


But what if... It had all hapened in another century?

by wheresmyship



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: F/M, I don't know about this title, King!George, M/M, Magic, Nobelty!sleepyboyz, Omegaverse, Swearing, church of prime, hell is real, knight!dream, knight!sapnap, lots of swearing, possibly ender dragon, tagging is hard, why am I doing this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27945143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheresmyship/pseuds/wheresmyship
Summary: Kings rise just as townspeople fall, but death comes to all the same. Rich or poor.Finding himself in a tight situation, Clay's forced to do something he never thought he would- become a knight, with the ultimate goal to be part of the King's Guard.The Crown Prince George, unwanted by his father because of his second gender, will now have much more resoponsibility in his hands than he had signed for.And in the land of Pogtopia, chaos arises between three very different brothers, rumours saying that they were about to take down the monarchy -Even if they are nobles.So, ready to dive in to a world full of battles, betrayal, conspirations, magic and romance?
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound, Wilbur Soot/Sally the Salmon
Comments: 34
Kudos: 223





	1. And So We Are Introduced

So, let’s just say, medieval times were a tad complicated. Kings and queens, lords and ladies, dukes and duchesses… On top of the circular family trees -the numerous incests-, deaths by the plague, poor hygiene, poverty, deaths by war, and the church’s control of literally everything and anything. Plus inequality and so, so much more. But this story is not one to be depressed about medieval times, as a matter of fact, medieval times pretty much high-key sucked.

Therefore, why not rewrite the medieval times? After all, I’m the author, I get to do whatever I please with the story, the universe, the characters, the deaths and the countys.

Now, I’ll tell you what this medieval-based world is about. We have, in the first place, royalty. Royalty is probably the most remarkable part of medieval times, it is likely, that whenever you think of the medieval times, you think of them. Kings and queens, with magnificent gowns and golden crowns, and ever so powerful.

And of course, we do have kings and queens. The royal family, formed by King Shlatt, the crown prince -George-, and the king’s bastard son, Eretyr, who is a few years younger than the crown prince. The queen, sadly, -Minxar, she was called-, had passed away shortly after George's birth, leaving the crown prince to grow without a mother.

That is not much of a big deal, many mothers died during those times, and even if they were not to die, they wouldn’t have raised their children anyway. Queens rarely did. It is also likely that prince George was better off without his mother, for apparently she was not the most gentle soul. Although it is rumoured that his parents loved each other greatly, and some even whispered in the dark, that the reason why his father had become a drunken man, was because the love of his life had passed away. But maybe I’ll tell you that tale another day.

We also have lords, oh we do. I’m not going to guide you around the entirety of the lords and ladies though, I do not think I should be writing the Bible today, but I will tell you of the family of the Lord of Pogtopia, and of the lord of Muffigand.

The lord of Pogtopia, named Philip Incraft, who is now an old councilman, has been the right hand man of King Shlatt ever since the king took the throne. The old heir to the title, Philip’s older brother, had passed away shortly before his youngest son’s birth, taken away from the land of the living by the plague. And so, Philip was named the Lord of Pogtopia, and his brother’s sons were left orphaned, for their mother had also passed away because of complications in the younguest’s birth.

The three sons of Pogtopia, were William, Technon, and Thomas, who Phil and Kristin took in as their own children, since Kristin was infertile. The eldest and heir, William, was a politician and a dreamer; then came Technon, who had the sharpest reflexes in the kingdom, and was rumoured that he’d be the youngest person to enter the king’s personal guard; and finally, the youngest of the trio, Thomas, who along with his best friend -Tobias- did all type of pranks and shenanigans around the castle. The age gap between the three? 10 years.

And as I’ve previously mentioned the lord of Muffigand, Darryl of the Halon family, the youngest lord in the kingdom with the second biggest state. And, despite his age, he’s not foolish. As a matter of fact, he’s probably smarter than any of the other lords -which may or may not be caused by the fact that he owns the biggest library in the kingdom-, and is a pure soul, never looking to harm anyone. Although because of this some of the elder lords who seek power try to explode him, but they really should know better than to try to use him.

Then we have the lesser nobles, people whose honour comes mostly from battle and war; families who have sworn loyalty to upper families.

Nicholas, for one, comes from a family like such; his father being a captain of the knights, and mostly being in charge of training any new recruits there may be. It is for that that he grew up in the castle walls, alongside the crown prince. And for that, they became best friends. But despite George’s desire to have Nicholas -or as he called him, Sapnap-, as part of his personal guard, Sapnap’s strength wasn't great enough to allow him to be part of the king’s guard; at least according to Sapnap’s father.

From the minor nobles is also Zakariah, who grew up along Lord Darryl, and has sworn and been trained to protect him at the cost of his life were it to be necessary. Zakariah would not even blink if he had to give his life to save Darryl’s, but it is unlikely one could tell that without knowing him closely, seeing that Zakariah’s favourite pastime is to mess with the lord.

We also have the church. The bishop in the castle is named Vikram, and is a loyal server of the church; good with the public and trusted -sometimes even worshipped-.

And then we have the lessers. From poor and broken families. Peasants, as they seem to be called. We’ll be seeing the lives of Clay -from a farmer family, left to maintain his 4 younger siblings along with his older sister-, or Anthony -who is from a trader family, often dealing fruits and vegetables inside the castle walls-. They were friends when they were children, but as they grew up and progressively found themselves with more duties, they parted ways.

Also, we have no homophobia here oh no. Because yes. This is an omegaverse, and “female” and “male” is absolutely irrelevant. Here we go by alpha omega and beta, and no, there’s no wolf shifting or whatever.

Did I mention there is magic? Yeeeaaaah there’s magic. And lord William may or may not be into it.

Also, according to aO3 statistics, only a small percentage of people who read my story actually leave kudos, so if you liked the story, please drop a kudos, it’s free and you can always unkudofy.

Anyway, enjoy the story.


	2. To Be A Farmer In A Royal’s World; Clay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Clay to Dream.

_ “Ah don’t hit me Clay!” Yelled the usually rather quiet boy, as he tried to run away from the blonde. _

_ “Oh Aaanntt come hereee!” Clay had laughed, chasing him around the market, wooden stick in hand. _

“Clay you know it just as well as I do-” she sobbed “This year’s harvest  _ won’t _ go well.

_ The pair ran on the cobblestone streets, eventually reaching the city’s wall. Clay was faster, he had longer legs, and was used to long days of non-stop physical work. It didn’t take long for the blonde to catch up to his friend, knocking him to the floor, wooden  _ _ sword _ _ stick in hand. _

_ “Fineeee! I surrender Clay! Stop manhandling me!” Anthony yelled, trying to regain control of his limbs, that Clay had pinned to the floor. _

_ “Yes!” he pumped his fist upwards, celebrating his victory. _

“Well maybe I can do something, like Drizzy’s clothing can give us some extra money and- and I can- I could maybe-”

“Clay,  _ please _ just stop it” her eyes watered “Look  _ I’m  _ the old one, _ I’m _ the one who’s meant to be taking care of you”

_ Clay let go of his friend and proceeded to lay by his friend’s side, laughing. Soon Anthony joined Clay’s contagious wheezes, and both madly laughed next to each other for what seemed hours, looking at the light blue sky and the fluffy white clouds above them.  _

_ When their laughter died down, they laid there, gazing above where the birds flew and stayed in comfortable silence.  _

_ “Hey Clay?” _

_ “Yeah Ant?” _

He was at a loss for words. “I-”

“Clay  _ please _ just don’t. Don’t.”

“We can get through this Lise, if I have to, I will even marry LiseI don’t-”

“Clay  _ no”  _ Lise’s tone was definite and cutting, leaving no room to argue. “If someone is to be forced to marry that’s me. I’m the old one Clay. I can’t take your choice to marry from you.”

_ “Do you think we’ll ever become knights?” the shy one asked.  _

_ Clay remained silent for a minute, pondering. “Well I don’t see why not” _

_ “Really?” _

_ “Well, yeah…” _

_ Ant smiled to the clouds, his mind filled with dreams. _

_ “Do you think we could make it to the king’s guard one day?” _

“But what about your choice Lise? What about your liberty?”

“It doesn’t matter Clay, ever since I was little I knew I was going to be married to someone I didn’t choose- or love for the matter. But you don’t have to do that Clay”

“You don’t have to either” He whispered, grabbing his sister’s hands tighter in his own, watching as the fireplace reflected in his sister’s dark eyes. “We can  _ both _ have a choice Lise, I know we can. We just need to think of something that can gut us out of here.” He was practically pleading at this point, desperately looking into his sister’s eyes.

They fell in silence, Lise’s mouth semi-open, searching for a counter. But the counter never came. 

“Lise,  _ please-” _

“Halon asked me to marry him last week” Lise whispered, eyes lost beyond the flames of the golden fire. 

_ “The king’s guard?” asked the taller _

_ “Yeah, the king’s guard, have you not heard of it?”  _

_ The blonde hummed negative, eyes still trained to the sky. _

_ “The king’s guard are the king’s personal knights, they’re the  _ best _ in the kingdom” _

“Halon? Lise, he’s an asshole, he does  _ not _ deserve you.” He said, although here eyes were still lost in the fire “You hear me Lise?” he grabbed his sister’s chin, making her face him. “You will be forever unhappy if you marry him. He’s scum” He spat.

“He’s our salvation, scum or not” Lise argued to his brother. “Yes it is not ideal; no he isn’t the man of my dreams nor will he ever be, but at least he’s got a stable income, and contacts. Maybe like that we could marry Drizzy to someone wealthy enough, and maybe send one of the boys to the church…” She sounded desperate, and tired. 

“That… That can’t be it Lise, no I can’t let you-”

“Clay please, you know I’m making sense to you, you’re not even bothering to argue with me. 

_ “Really?” Awed Clay “Well then, I sure won’t make it, but you may” he chuckled.  _

_ “Oh shut it, you’re way better than I am” _

_ “I don’t think so man, you are like an ant, you’re like  _ suuper _ strong” _

_ “Says the farmer boy” _

_ “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!” Clay defended, friendily hitting his friend’s shoulder.  _

_ “You know what I mean! You can lift the biggest rocks!” _

_ “Yeah sure” he had chuckled.  _

“Yes but- Lise  _ please _ there may be another way, we just need to think a bit more about it, I’m sure there’s something we can do.”

She smiled, those kind of sad smiles that could reach one’s eyes. A sad smile that said way much more to Clay than any words ever could, a smile that said ‘there’s nothing you can do’, a smile that said- ‘this is the only way’. 

And Clay’s heart broke. In thousands and thousands of small sharp pieces. It broke yet it made no sound. and so his hope was lost. Lise rose from the floor where they sat, her hand slipping out from Clay’s own calloused ones. She let a hand linger in his shoulder, a silent promise, then left the room, not making another sound.

“ _ But like, imagine. You and I. Members of the king’s guard. We could have anything we wanted!” _

_ “Anything?” _

_ “Yeah, absolutely anything!” _

And so in the midst of the night, in front of the crackling fire, and having lost all hope, Clay said he would save his family. He had a  _ Dream _ . He’d  _ be _ the dream his family needed to be saved.

And so he made a stupid, unreachable promise.

“I’ll become a member of the King’s Guard” he whispered to no-one in particular, maybe only to himself, maybe only to the fire. “That way I will keep everyone safe”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we know what happened to Clay, who's next...?


	3. To Be An Omega In A World Of Alphas; George

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even if he was the Crown Prince, George still had struggles.

George was unwanted by his father, he knew.

Ever since his 12th birthday, he could see the hatred his father had towards him, the way his eyes would avert whenever he was to enter the room, the way his tone became colder and shorter.

His father hated him, George knew.

_ “The king is meant to be an alpha, not a filthy  _ omega _ like you!” _

Every night, before going to sleep those words would echo in his head.

_ “You’re a disgrace! You are lucky your mother loved you, I only keep you alive for the sake of her” _

George knew that his father despised him, although that would be okay, he knows sometimes father-son relationships were not good, or healthy for the matter, George could live knowing his father despised him.

_ “Even the court laughs at you! If they find out, you’re going to be hated, and taken off the throne! Would you like that? Would you like to be revoked your right as king!?” _

But that’s what scared him. The possibility that the people he was raised to guard turned on him. He was  _ terrified _ of the possibility that his kingdom turned on him.

He could care less about his father hating him, or his mother having died when he was two- he could care less. But to even  _ think _ about the chance of his court betraying him like that- it  _ terrified  _ him.

He sometimes thought it could be easier to just disappear. Maybe the kingdom would be better off if he were dead. Maybe if he were  _ gone _ his half brother could take over. Eretyr was a Beta, which according to his father, was one thousand times better than being an Omega. 

Maybe everyone would be better off without him. 

But he still stayed awake at night, pondering and dreaming of impossible circumstances. Because despite being the heir to the throne, and having an entire kingdom to his full disposal, there were some things that nothing could change. 

_ Mother _ he’d think.  _ Do you too hate me? _

He’d ask the stars; the summer stars, the winter moon, the spring goddesses, the fae of autumn.  _ Mother, do you too hate me? _

And yet she never answered.  _ She is dead, of course she can’t answer you, you fool _ ; he’d say,, after minutes of silence and an unanswered question.  _ And even if she were to answer, you know what she’d tell you? _

_ No. _

_ She’d tell you that you’re  _ weak _. She was an alpha too, unlike  _ you.

Oh yes, the royal couple of Manberg. Deceased Queen Minxar and King Shlatt. Both alphas, both strong.

Both leaders. 

Unlike George.

At least that was so according to his father and the older Lords. They thought him weak, yet he was trained harder than any king before him. His tutor had made sure he had more knowledge than any ruler before him. Hell, he probably even had more knowledge on the further regions than his father ever had. 

The king would never admit it; even George would never do it, but some people knew that- although younger-, George was already wiser than his father. 

But it didn’t matter, because those who had power didn’t care to believe that. They didn’t even care to think of that. 

All they saw was his  _ stupid _ second gender.

_ Omega. _

All they ever saw was that stupid word. But they tried to unsee it, oh they did. 

Ever since his 12th birthday, ever since George was declared an Omega by the priest, they had kept it a secret between the high charges of the court, making those few servants who actually knew swore on their life to keep it a secret. 

And so, ever since his 12th birthday, George had to fake being a Beta, because faking being an alpha was “too hard for an omega” or whatever his dumb father had said. 

“Your highness?” George looked towards his access door, seeing his servant -Himbom-, who was silently asking for permission to enter. 

George just nodded, knowing that at this point in time his servant knew what he meant.

“You must take your hormonal potion once more” He said, approaching the crown prince’s bed, when George lay. 

Pushing himself to his elbows, George sighed, reaching out for the potion that his servant had brought in a silver platter. 

By now, he should have already become used to the bitter taste the potion had. He sometimes tried to put his finger on what the taste reminded him of. 

It sometimes reminded him of vinegar- the absolute despicable taste of grape vinegar. Sometimes it reminded him of rotten apples- that taste was the worst in his opinion.

But some days, some days the potion didn’t taste bitter, not too badly at least, sometimes the potion tasted like lime. He liked lime.

That day it didn’t taste like lime; it tasted like vinegar.

He sometimes wondered if his emotions were what triggered the potion’s taste.

He swallowed it down, then collapsed back on his bed. Staring once more to the moon-bathed ceiling in his room.

“Hey Himbomb?”

“Yes your highness?” Turned the server, who was already halfway out the room’s door.

“Thank Samuel for the potion” 

Himbom smiled at the collapsed prince. “Of course your Highness.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have NO idea of which omegaverse genders I can assign to many people, so...., please leave suggestions?


	4. To Be One Of The Family; The Incrafts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Tobias do shenanigans, William likes salmon, Technon is just making sure everything is alright, and Philip just wants to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the previous chapters where kinda angsty, so here we have a rather funnier chapter.

“Tommy, he’ll catch us!” Tobias angrily whispered to his best friend, as they sneakily watched from afar the blonde’s older brother. 

“He _will_ if you keep making so much noise!” Tommy told his friend off. “Besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong!”

“Yes we are!” Argued back Tobias- or as Tommy liked to call him ‘Tubbo’. Many people didn’t know how that nickname had sprouted. They didn’t know it was when Tobias had asked Thomas to teach him how to write and read, and Tobias tried to read his name, somehow managing to read Tubbo instead of his name. “We are _invading_ his privacy Tommy!”

“Look Tubbo, have your parents taught you how to _court_ someone?” asked Thomas to the shorter one, completely ignoring Tobia’s question.

Tobias blushed a bit, having not expected that question remotely. “Um- well no, I’m still quite young to start courting someone…”

“Well today’s your lucky day,” Tommy smirked, looking towards where his eldest brother sat next to the river. “because today you’ll see how a _man_ courts a _woman_ ”

\---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---

William didn’t really know how he’d met the shapeshifter; he simply just did.

One day, during his daily night walks, he heard a strange sound. Not like a bush-moving strange sound, not a “someone is spying on me” sound, but rather like a pretty melodical sound.

‘ _It’s the voice of a woman’_ he’d thought at the moment. But it couldn’t be. It was far too perfect, far too smooth. It didn’t take long for William to notice that, and to immediately be taken over by curiosity. ‘ _Wait, but is it?’_

He’d always liked the forest outside Pogtopia's castle. It wasn’t too busy, and the trees were rumoured to be the tallest in the entire kingdom. They probably were, to be fair. The trees were much taller than any other tree in the kingdom, by maybe a dozen meters, but that may also be caused by the type of tree there was in the forest. 

_‘They are definitely not your ordinary forest tree’_ had thought William as he followed the mesmerizing sound ‘ _Maybe I should ask Father about the forest’s history’_

He approached the sound, but as he stepped next to the river, the sound stopped.

William would never know that that was the day he first saw Sally. Unbeknownst to him, the shapeshifter was right there, hiding before his eyes in her favourite shape- the body of a salmon. 

So William sat next to the river until the moon reached its maximum height, when the silver light bathed the water and his dark hair seemed to shine on its own.

And he sung. He sang his heart out despite not having his guitar, he sang to nobody in particular, he just sang what he felt.

He sang about injustices and lord and ladies, the coldness of the court and his wish to practice magic. He also sang about his brothers, his deceased parents and his new ones.

He sang until his throat ran dry, unaware that he was being listened to. 

Unaware that the creature who was listening to him, was slowly falling head over heels for the mysterious noble singer.

But as the Sun rose up, William left for home, and the shapeshifter cried at the possibility of never meeting the mysterious noble again.

So the shapeshifter returned each night to the same spot, and sang the same melody she had sung before, until one night the noble returned, but this time the shifter didn’t hide.

She’d smiled at the dark haired boy, turquoise eyes shining and red hair darkened by the river water, her skin pale against the fair light.

And that is how the two lovers met. 

\---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---

“Tommy I don’t want to learn how to court a woman!” blurted Tobias to his friend. 

“What, would you rather I taught you how to court a _man_?” Thomas cheekily smirked..

“No you dumbass,” Tobias pushed his friend away “I just don’t want to court _anyone_ ”

“ _Sure_ you don’t my friend” Tommy chuckled, his attention diverting back to the clearing where his brother stood. “Now shut up she’s here”

“What? Where is she? I can’t see her” Tobias said, moving forward a bit so as to try to see the clearing from closer.

“Don’t move you fool!” Thomas whisper-yelled, “You’ll scare her away!”

“Scare her? But she isn’t here! How could I possibly scare her!”

Thomas sighed; “Look closer, she’s in the river.”

Tobias looked at his friend with utter confusion. “In the river? Why is the woman your brother is courting in the river?” Tobias looked closer at the water, trying to see the woman that was apparently there.

“Shh she’s about to transform”

“Transform?!” Tobias’ confusion was through the roof. Maybe those cookies they had stolen from the kitchen had some potions in them after all.

“Yes, look!” And indeed, from the river rose a woman, of gorgeous copper hair, and dressed in what seemed a turquoise princess’ gown, which matched her eyes.

“What are we looking at?” 

Tobias and Thomas screamed at the top of their lungs. 

Needless to say, neither were expecting Technon to make a surprise appearance behind them, and because of the very loud and high-pitched scream both boys let out, William noticed the intruder’s presence, the mysterious river woman disappearing once more.

“But what in the bloody nether do you think you three are doing here?! Were you following me, you little bastards?!” 

Yeah, William was _not_ happy about the presence of his brother’s and friend. It is safe to affirm that he was _furious_.

“Um, Guys?” Asked Technon to the younger pair.

“Yeah?” 

“LEt’s Get OUT of HERE!” He exclaimed, running away from William as fast as possible to go back to the safety of the castle walls, the two following close behind, and a furious older brother running behind them screaming colourful swears to his brothers.

“GET BACK HERE YOU BLOODY DEMONS!”

\---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---

And so at three am in the morning, the whole family (plus Tobias), found itself reunited in the throne room of Pogtopia, their uncle looking at them from the throne.

“What’s happened now?” Asked a tired Philip “I’m way too old to be awoken by the staff because my sons are ‘screaming at each other in the middle of the night’”

“Father they were _spying_ on me!” Wilbur was the first to speak, gesturing behind himself towards where his younger brothers and Tobias stood.

Philip sighed. “Tubbo, you’re dismissed, anything you may have possibly done is obviously just Tommy’s fault”

“Thank you my lord” Tobias bowed respectfully and proceeded to silently leave the room.

“And so, William, what were your brothers spying that is so important to have me awake at 3 in the morning?” 

To that, William blushed, obviously not wanting to reveal to his father that he was seeing a mysterious woman each night.

“He is courting a _woman,_ father!” Thomas exclaimed, unable to remain quiet for longer.

To that, Philip raised his eyebrows. Well he did know that his sons were of interest to the ladies, and that they were at _that_ age, so it was likely that they were to start courting soon, but he did not think William wouldn’t tell him of it…

“Oh really? Is that so Technon?” Philip smiled cheekily looking at his middle child. William just groaned, knowing already that none of his siblings were going to be punished. 

“Well… I did not go there for the _woman_ , I just followed the child” he answered, pointing at the shortest “and his friend to make sure they would not burn down another peasant house.” He deadpanned, then looked at his older brother from the corner of his eyes. “But yes, there _was_ a woman there father”

William let out a groan of exasperation that basically echoed through the whole castle, whilst his father and siblings just laughed.

“It’s alright children, just go to sleep, the only thing hurt here is Will’s secretism” he said, laughing and waving them off as he got up from his throne-chair. “Now back to bed everyone”

And so their father left, leaving the three siblings to stand in silence. 

“So, what’s her name?” 

“I’m going to kill you” answered instead William, as he jumped on his younger brother, Technon immediately seeing himself forced to intervene in the little war that had just exploded between his two siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so; is Tommy an alpha or a beta? And Tubbo? I never know about these two.


	5. To Be The Youngest Of Lords; Darryl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darryl's parents had passed away, now it was his time to step up as the lord of Muffigand.

Darryl didn’t really know how his parents had died. They just- did.

A barbarian raid- they had told him. The carriage of the lords had been jumped by barbarians and robbed, but when the Lord and Lady had refused to bow down to the looters, they had been killed, their throats cut with a dagger.

But yet, he could not understand why that had happened.

His parents were good people; he knew. They were loved among his people and nobody ever had reasons to hate them. He also knew that he’d been lucky to have the parents he’d had.

They had raised him and taught him all they knew, unlike many noble families, who had tutors to raise them and teach them everything instead. 

He’d been lucky that his parents were loving and patient.

And now they’d been taken away from him. Taken away by some _stupid_ _low-lives_. Taken away by simple dirty _robbers_. 

He wondered what drove those people to actually kill his parents. He knew that some of his people despised nobles; but he couldn’t possibly think of a single thing that could make his parents be hated. 

And so he quietly stood next to the double grave, his parents resting forever together under the eyes of the gods. He sent a silent prayer for them, asking for them to have safe passage to their last resting place, and for them to be happy there where they’ll rest. 

He stood there, under the summer sun, listening to the faint melody of the singing birds. 

“My Lord,” politely intervened his personal guard -Zakariah, his best friend- “the ceremony is about to start, and your presence is required” he informed, giving a polite bow. 

Darryl just nodded, giving one last glance at his parents’ grave, asking them for their strength one last time.

“I’ll be right there”.

¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨¨+¨¨¨

“And so, as your father before you, and his father before him, do you promise to be loyal to the royal family of Foundburg, as a vassal?”

“I promise”

“Do you promise to serve the royal family of Foundburg and to obey any order given by your superiors?”

“I promise”

“Do you promise to aid the royal family of Foundberg, with gold or men were it to be asked from you?”

“I promise”

“Do you promise to give the royal family of Foundberg council, and to honestly speak your mind for the better end of the kingdom of Manburg?”

“I promise”

“And so in exchange for your loyalty, the royal family of Foundberg shall give you protection, defend you of any bad, grant you land, and maintain thy possessions.” 

The bishop allowed his voice to die out, then spoke to the king:

“Now bath your vassal in thy blood, so he may rise as your loyal servant.” 

And so king Shlatt approached the young lord, and lightly sliced his hand with a golden dagger, allowing a few drops of blood to fall on the young Lord’s forehead

“You shall now rise renowned as the Lord of Muffigand, in the eyes of the gods, the royal court, and your people”

Darryl rose, eyes in line with the bishop’s, blood slowly dropping to his eyes, yet trying not to blink so as to not show any weakness.

The king didn’t like him, Darryl knew. He also knew that the king had disapproved of the way his parents had raised him, and that’s why he knew that the king was happy that his parents had passed, because that way he would be able to “man up” on his own.

Darryl knew the king was not the smartest -or wisest, for the matter-, person in the kingdom. He doubted he made it in the top 1.000, as a matter of fact, which taking into account the immense number of uneducated commoners there were, was quite the sad statistic. 

He was also aware of the fact that the king had tried to take the title of “Lord and Lady of Muffigand” from his parents once he’d risen to power, but that the treaty of vassalage allowed his parents to keep their rank, which his parents had sworn to the the current king’s father. 

Darryl didn’t necessarily like king Shlatt. He found him selfish and self-centered, he’d even dare say he was corrupt, even if he was yet to find proof of that.

But he did like the crown-prince.

Being the heir to the second largest estate in the entire kingdom meant that he was basically raised with the other main lords his age, and although not really a lord, the crown prince did fit the powerful title profile. 

And he had grown to know the crown prince fairly well, dare he say; as a matter of fact, he quite liked him. 

Both of them -along with the heir of Pogtopia-, were known to be “literates” by the court; which, although literate doesn’t have a negative meaning, they used as a bit of an insult. It wasn’t as offensive as what the second son of Pogtopia called them though; he called them “nerds”. He didn’t even know what the term meant, and he had even gone as far as to ask a scholar about the meaning of the word.

The scholar didn’t know either; Darryl suspected that lord Technon may have invented that term on his own just to spite his older brother. 

They were the “literates” simply because they enjoyed reading and knew a bit too much of geography. They had even had a monthly book discussion at a time, when they didn’t have as many duties as they did currently -you know, being the heirs to important titles. 

Darryl liked George quite a lot. 

He thought he’d be a good king


	6. To Be Accepted Into Knight School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The old man looked at the knight aspirant. Should he allow a peasant to get into knight's school?

The old man watched the stranger with a weird look, his eyebrows raised and holding a clear doubtful pose.

His doubt was reasoned though, for the man -more like just a boy- before him didn’t fit a knight. Not even a knight trainee. He looked dirty, and his leather and cotton clothes looked old and worn, he guessed they were hand-downs, probably, and he also guessed that those were some of the nicest clothes the individual owned -apart from the clothes he wore to mass, most likely. 

But he looked strong, the man had to admit that much.

_ He’s probably a peasant,  _ the man figured, guessing by the other’s clothing _. _

His tanned skin also gave him out on that, plus his very calloused hands. Nobles didn’t have much of a tanned skin, lighter skin was seen as more attractive, for it meant you were more wealthy since you weren’t forced to work under the Sun like the peasants were- forced to work hours in the heat to be able to afford living one more day. His calloused hands were also a clear indicator of his poverty. Nobles had finer hands, many artisans also did. Knights  _ did _ also have hardened palms, but they did  _ not _ have the kind of build a farmer did.

_ So he is probably a farmer,  _ the man decided.

“Alright kid, let me see how you can hold a sword.” he said, tossing an iron sword to the aspirant.

Surprisingly, the blonde managed to grab the sword quite skilfully, even managing to spin it around his wrist somehow.

_ So he’s a natural at it... His pose clearly shows he’s uncomfortable holding the sword -he looks very tense-, he’s most likely never held one before, not a real one at least..  _

“Now hand it back”. The stranger did, although it wasn’t the best throw he’d ever seen. 

_ He is definitely a principiant. _

The man found himself in a tight spot. 

They are not allowed, according to the king’s rules, to let townspeople into knight’s training. If not all townspeople would just become knights to try to avoid their working life, and so as to not pay as many taxes as they did at the moment.

Yet, right there before him stood incredibly strong potential. Were he to judge, he’d say that the boy could easily become one of the greatests knights out there. He definitely had the necessary body proportions, and seemed to be quick on his feet -were he to judge for the way the blonde seemed to bounce on the spot, as if he were to be ready to sprint away any second-, and he was apparently a quick learner -from what he’d seen of the boy holding the sword he’d handed him-. Really, he did have nearly all the qualities to be a knight, the only trait the old man wasn’t so sure about, were the blonde’s reflexes. 

“Dodge!” He said, as he threw a knife to the boy’s feet.

And the boy managed to understand what was happening and move away from the knife's trajectory just in time, saving his left foot from being impaled.

Yeah, there were more ways to test a potential knight’s reflexes, but a knife to the foot usually did the job rather well, and many of the potential knights did have reinforced boots. 

Although if you looked closer at the boy’s shoes, you would have seen that the boy would not have been able to prevent the knife impaling his foot were he not to have dodged it in time. 

But he did, which was the important part. 

Lifting his gaze the old man saw how the potential knight was agitated, green eyes blown wide. It was clear that he was  _ not _ expecting a knife to be thrown at him. “Sorry about that kid”, the old man apologised, “but this way I know that your reflexes are quick.”

But that only made the old man’s job even harder. The kid definitely had all the physical attributes he possibly needed, and he was sure he could be a good knight. 

“Are you a beta?”

“No, I’m an alpha” The other shyly muttered. 

Even worse. This  _ kid _ had all the proper characteristics to become a good knight. A  _ really _ good knight. The old man found himself in a moral compromise. 

On one hand, there were the rules stated by his king that he had to follow.  _ No peasant must become a knight _ . Those were King Shlatt’s wishes. 

And yet, on the other hand, was the oath he’d sworn to the crown and his job. He’d sworn to find the best potential he possibly could so as to train the best knights in the kingdom, so that the royal family was as safe as it could possibly be. 

So really here, what was more important? The rules, or the royal family’s safety?

“Listen kid, this is how this will work” The blonde raised his gaze towards the older man, his eyes shining with hope. “You will enter knight’s school,” the boy’s face lit up entirely “but you will  _ never _ reveal that you’re a peasant, or say your name for the matter,” the boy’s eyebrows furrowed “you will  _ never _ show your face, or explain your motives, and if you’re ever to be discovered, you will  _ not _ mention I was the one to let you in, understood?”

The younger looked at the man like a lost puppy, but a ray of determination shone rapidly in the blonde’s eyes, like lightning shines during a stormy night, breaking the clouds from behind for just the shortest second.

“I understand”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far so good? Soon we'll reunite everyone... 
> 
> Also, please tell me of any medieval things that you'd like to see in the story. Inspiration always comes in handy. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. To Be Brother Of A Bastard Prince.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George reflects on his relationship with his half brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've uploaded -sorry about that-, I needed some time to get some holiday rest. 
> 
> Here's the new chapter though, so hope you guys like it!

At times, George didn’t know how to feel about his brother.

He was a couple of years younger than George, meaning that his half brother had been conceived and birthed when his mother was still alive. That basically meant that his father had lain with another woman whilst his mother was still alive. 

Yet at no moment did George recall his mother being angry at his father for having conceived a bastard son. 

George also knew that having mistresses and bastard children were quite common for a king or queen. The norm was to have alphas as the two rulers, but by nature, alphas are drawn to omegas, meaning that it was likely that both his parents had had some form of mistress. 

He didn’t really understand why that was like so. The matrimonial vows stated that one was to be loyal to the other until death did them part. They didn’t respect the vows, yet it was normalized.

It was normalized for alphas to break the wedding bows. He didn’t think omegas breaking them was as popular.

His brother’s laughter reached the window where he was posted, and he couldn’t help but feel jealous.

Unlike himself, Eretyr was a bastard son, meaning that he was  _ not _ expected to behave the way George was supposed to behave, he didn’t have to get the education George was supposed to get, and he did not have half the amount of responsibilities George currently had. 

Or, in other words, Eretyr had much more freedom than George.

He still owned a crown, and had the title of prince. He still had all the riches from the court and had a personal tailor to sew him gowns. He was still royalty, yet he wasn’t obliged to act like so.

George supposed it could also be much worse.

Thankfully, they got along fairly well. Not exceptionally so -not as much as Sapnap and himself were friends-, but they got along.

Every now and then his brother would explain to him the adventures he’d had outside the castle walls, the hunts, the ladies, the boys, the magic and so,  _ so  _ much more. 

And George would sit there, eyes closed and imagining all of that. Every single detail -but the colour- his brother described he tried to  _ feel,  _ because he knew he couldn’t. That didn’t mean he wasn’t jealous of the younger; he felt a pang of pain every time he explained how he’d made a new friend, or how he’d tried a new dish, or how he’d somehow reached a lost location in the middle of the woods.

That, obviously, did not mean that George didn’t have prioritary treatment. He was always the second appointed when the court’s painter came to make portraits -after his father, of course-; he had much more respect from the lords than his brother could ever have -even if he was an omega-; and he was the crown prince -the heir to the throne-. 

In all honesty, his relationship with his half brother wasn’t completely fucked.

Sometimes when his father got drunk out of his brains and started yelling at everyone or everything that dared cross his mind, they’d meet up in the library, under the big stained window. There they would just hide from the king together, sometimes reading to each other, knowing that not ever would their father step into the library.

Sometimes Eretyr would teach George how to use a sword properly, and in return George would teach him how to aim with a bow. 

George was good with the bow and arrow. Not so much with a sword though.

And yet, despite all those little moments that definitely made it seem that they had somehow managed to establish a healthy relationship, at times George couldn’t help but feel jealous of his younger brother, knowing that he had a liberty that he would never, not even when he was king, would have.

But he also figured that Eretyr was jealous of him from time to time. When in balls he was approached by every member of the court, when in council his voice was listened to just a little bit more; in those times George could see in his brother’s eyes what he thought his own looked liked when he heard the younger's stories.

Yeah, they were both jealous of each other.

Yet, as he looked down from the window in the tower of his chambers, where his brother was stood, happily chatting with a couple guards and maids, and enjoying the life he knew he could never have, he smiled.

Maybe he could not have what he wanted, but at least Eretyr could live that life for both of them.


	8. To Be A Noble Knight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May or may not be considered the most mysterious lord in the land, how did he come to be the noble knight?

Technon vividly remembered the first time he’d picked up a sword.

His father had brought him and William to the back gardens, where some soldiers were sparring, and told them to watch what he was about to do. 

His father had then joined the area where the knights were sparring, and left the two young siblings with their nurse to watch as he strapped on a thin leather chestplate and grabbed a short iron sword.

He watched alongside William how his father moved against the other, how he moved to one side and to the other, how his eyes would dance around his opponent to see where the other’s sword was heading to, how he’d skillfully block and smile when his opponent failed to hit him.

Unlike his brother, three year old Technon was absolutely mesmerized by the sight before him, and was soon jumping on his toes in an intent to free himself from the strong hold his nanny had on his shoulder.

He just wanted to sprint away and do what his father was doing; because it looked  _ fun _ .

But eventually his father had stopped sparring with the guard, and approached his two sons. His father had known how Technon was feeling, he was sure now, because from a single glance at the two children his father had smiled at him, kneeled so as to line their gazes where in line, and handed the short sword to the three year old.

And Technon had held it, he had gripped it tightly, lightly cutting the palms of his hands. His father had tried to take away the sword from his son when he saw that, but Technon had just held the sword tighter to himself, completely ignoring the burning feeling in his hands.

He… He had  _ liked _ the shiny thing, even if he had not known what it meant, or what it did, for the matter.

He still had that sword, framed on the wall behind his bed, reminding him of that first time. 

\---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---

Technon remembered the first time he’d sparred a man and won. 

The soldier in question was named Rant and was, at the time, 19. Technon was 7.

For some reason, William had come crying to where Technon was practicing archery, telling him that a soldier had taken the book he was reading, and ripped out pages from it. 

And so Technon, at the age of 7, angrily walked up to a trained soldier who well doubled his age and demanded him to spar.

Rant’s friends had laughed. Of course they had. A 7 year old, pretending to be able to beat not only someone who doubled its age and body size, but also being smug and confident about his chances. 

They had told him to go do ‘lord things, like the little lord he was’, to which Technon had answered by spitting in the olders face and saying that he was ‘just too afraid to lose to him, since you’re, you know, a  _ coward’ _

After that statement, Technon found himself in the sparring ring with a staff, the rules to the fight simple: knock your opponent to the floor, and you have won.

With those rules, Technon was in disadvantage, yet he liked those odds.

The Lord remembered how he’d used his shorter height to his advantage, and turned his opponent’s weight and strength against him. 

Rant’ body was dusted and laid on the floor in less than 30 seconds, Technon’s movements too fast and precise for the other to both comprehend or avoid. 

He remembered how all of the soldiers around the rink had  _ roared _ in admiration to the little one, and how Rant left embarrassed from the rink, his clothes fair with dust, leaving the 7 year old to stand in the middle completely rejoicing in the feeling of victory. 

A feeling which would become addicting. 

\---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---

Often he’d hear the question: “Why don’t you ever cut your hair?”

Firstly, he  _ did _ cut his hair, he cut it just enough for it to be healthy, strong, and shiny, never radically or what is commonly known as “short” anyway. 

And  _ secondly,  _ he had his reasons.

As many know, his older brother is a  _ nerd _ .

Unlike his brother, Technon did  _ not _ necessarily enjoy reading. He did read every now and then, but he certainly did not spend hours making a small collection according to his tastes just like his brother did. 

He did, however, enjoy stories, even if he didn’t read them. That was what William was there for. 

At night, back when they were younger -since he was 6 until the age of 12-, they would stay up at night each Thursday, and William would explain to him something that he had read during the week.

One day, William had told him the tale of the fighters of the sand, also known as the best warriors in the history of the world -he had been 9 at the time-, not only trained since birth, but also quick and smart. 

William had told him how the warriors of the sand would not cut their hair unless defeated. Their long hair was a symbol of their strength and power, the longer the hair the longer the unbeaten. 

Technon had found it fascinating, so much so he decided that he as well would follow that code of honour which the fighters of the sand lived for.

And so year after year, he would try his best. 

The first two years of knight school were probably the hardest, for he was paired with talented knights who doubled his age and skill, and he struggled not to cut his hair day after day. It was only after a couple weeks of having gone completely bald that Technon would never cut his hair again. 

At the time of tale, Technon’s hair reached well after his mid-back, and so he often wore his hair tied in a long braid, even if many did not know the meaning of it. 

\---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---

One last thing that marked Technoblade was the first time he ever killed a man.

Since he was known to be one of the best knights in the entire kingdom it wasn’t long until the boy was taken into battle.

And unlike any other young -11 year old- lord would, Technon didn’t hide from the battle or the bloodshed. 

As a matter of fact, he  _ embraced  _ it. 

He had immediately jumped out of his horse -at the time its name was Yram, now perished-, and stepped into the battlefield. 

His father had tried to stop him from doing so, worried about what might happen to his son, because despite his undeniable skill, he was  _ still _ just an 11 year old who had very recently learned to use a sword.

And despite that, Technon could not be stopped as he dived his longsword into an enemy’s chest, the metallic grey of the sword immediately bathing in crimson. 

And as he killed the first man he’d ever killed, Technon had smiled, his eyes shining red and reflecting nothing inside.

  
Technon had felt  _ ecstatic.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops my hand slipped.
> 
> Did I make this too dark? I sure hope not.


	9. To Be Invited… To A Ball?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An invitation arrives to the halls of Muffigand.

“My dear lords and ladies,

As I believe you remember, it is about to be my 35th birthday in no less than two weeks, and to celebrate the date, I am to throw a ball followed by a week of festivity; with feasts, hunting parties, jousts, disputes, and of course, lots of music. 

Do not worry about your stay during the week, for the castle and the royal family will gladly open the gates to any lord who wishes to stay in for the length of the celebration, so we can feast together every meal of the day.

We hope to see you soon in the walls of your dear capital, so we can together enjoy this well-deserved period of celebration.

-Your lord and King, Schlatt the First.”

Darryl frowned at the yellowish papir that had been brought to him by his servant. 

Firstly, he would have to manage to find a present for the king -an adequate present for the king-, because despite the fact that it was not written in the letter, it was obvious that a present was required -it was the  _ king’s _ birthday after all, every single inhabitant of the kingdom was expected to bring presents to the king during the period of a week; Darryl supposed that was the reason that Shlatt had decided to prolong the ridiculous party for that long.

A ball. And a week of party and celebration with all the lords. All closed in in the same castle walls and eating together. A nobility sleepover inside the castle walls.

Darryl  _ couldn’t _ wait.

And yeah, that was sarcasm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is rather a short one, but we will soon see more of the characters coming together...


	10. To Be Bruised After Training.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is it like to be in knight's school? How long must he train to become a member of the King's Guard?

Dream’s body was sore. 

He had now been thrown to the ground by his opponents more times than he was able to count. 

He could barely stand up without visibly flinching from pain. 

For all who haven’t noticed, Dream had just started knights training not that much ago, as a matter of fact, only two weeks ago.

And he thought he managed quite well.

It was quite difficult though to keep up with his actual job -being a farmer-, and to get to training on time. He could barely get 4 hours of sleep each day.

But despite the fact that it seemed that he could not have a moment to rest, or that he had no energy to barely move, he still kept going. He still kept fighting and getting up from the floor, somehow not falling into exhaustion. 

It had only been two weeks, yet every hour that he kept awake felt like an entire month to him.

But he was progressing incredibly fast. 

It was now undeniable that he was an incredibly fast learner, and that at the rate he was going -climbing levels every two days-, it was a matter of time before he actually became part of the Knight’s Guard. The next goal would be to be member of one of the prince’s.

Dream couldn’t wait to be officially named a knight and to be able to put his family out of misery. So even if every day he woke up more tired than the day before, he tried twice as hard, and still managed to have hope.

_ He was going to do this. He was going to be the first to do this.  _

“Yo Dream!” called Sir Nicholas. “Come here!”

Dream had met Sir Nicholas fairly recently. He was the knight trainer’s son, and often came around to help his father train the newcomers.

Sir Nicholas was a member of the Prince’s Guard, so Dream was trying to look good infront of him. Maybe he would put in a good word to the prince about him that way. 

The only problem is that Sir Nicholas’ personality made keeping up a professional attitude quite hard. 

Don’t misunderstand this; Dream liked Sir Nicholas.

He was friendly, and not pushy; when he’d made clear that he was not removing his helmet or explaining why his name was ‘Dream’, the knight understood and did not push further. 

He sometimes wondered when he’d started to answer to a name that wasn’t his own. It was strange to think about it at times,but he supposed that if that old man had ordered him to change his game, it must have been for a reason.

“Yes Sir Nicholas?” Dream asked as he juggled to the knight. 

“Oh come on! Again? I told you you can just call me Nick” the knight had chuckled.

“Yeah, of course, sorry Sir Nick.” Dream corrected.

“Well I was meaning you don’t have to use ‘Sir’ but we’re making some progress” the raven haired rolled his eyes as the taller scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, “Anyhow, I wanted to introduce you to someone”

Dream perked up at that. 

“I want to introduce you to a friend of mine who is in the Knight’s Guard…” The knight started, as he raised his head to look around. “A friend of mine who should be right here if he hasn’t forgotten…” He’d said, lightly gritting his teeth as he scanned his surroundings for familiar curly hair. “A friend of mine who-” he finally spotted him “Is right there come on!”

He grabbed Dream’s wrist and tug him along the cobblestone floor, until they came up to a rather short boy -boy, Dream was certain, he looked much too young to be considered a ‘man’, o a member of the Knight’s Guard for the matter-. He had a somewhat reddish curly hair, big brown eyes, and a freckled face, which just made the boy look even younger.

“ _ Sir Karlarn” _ Nick had said, in a bit of a mocking tone, which Dream guessed was to make fun of how he had referred to Nick as ‘Sir. Nicholas’. “This is Dream, and he’s becoming a member of your guard”

Dream’s eyes were blown wide. He was becoming a member of the Knight’s Guard. HE WAS BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE KNIGHT’S GUARD. Dream had to contain himself from jumping Nick and hugging him to oblivion. 

“I’m becoming a member of the Knight’s Guard??” Dream asked the raven haired man, unable to hide his excitment. 

“Yeah man, you deserve it” Nick said, and tapped his hand against the taller’s shoulder. “Besides, Karl here needs good men like you in his team” 

The mentioned smiled slightly at Dream and gave his hand to the taller. “Pleasure to meet you Dream, I’ve heard good things about you” Dream didn’t hesitate to take the offered hand and shake it slightly, trying to hide his -very obvious- excitment from what seemed would be his new boss. 

“Wait, but- can I become a member of the Knight’s Guard without, well, being a knight?” Dream turned to Nick, very confused.

“Oh don’t you know?” The dark-haired questioned, “To become a knight you first need to serve some time as an apprentice in the Knight’s Guard. Karl here will be your ‘tutour” or whatever. He’s the one who will have to grade you -so, you know, get in his good side and give him foot massages every now and then.” Nick laughed.

“Hey! Come on! Don’t say that to the poor guy! He might take it seriously!” Karl told the other off. “You don’t need to give me any food massages, don’t worry. Gods of prime, I wouldn’t even  _ ask _ for one knowing how bad my feet smell” Karl lamented, to which Nick answered with a very audible ‘ew’. Karl just rolled his eyes in response. 

“So, tomorrow first hour in the morning we should meet here, and I will start to explain to you what you’ll do in the guard okay?” asked Karl.

Dream pondered for a second. Do I have anything to do tomorrow morning?  _ No, there are still a few weeks left before harvest. Right now it’s rather a slow time.  _

“Sure, I’ll meet you here"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha plot buildup go brrr. I PROMISE more action is coming.


	11. To Be Forced To The Celebration.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip has to deal with his children's necessities.

The groan was much too loud and honest in Philip’s opinion. Why were his kids so reluctant to literally do anything related to court duties? 

The most unwilling to dress up and go to balls were very obviously Technon and Tommy, but he  _ was not  _ expecting this reaction from William. Love had changed the kid, he supposed. 

“Okay okay children relax. We all knew this was coming!” Philip explained as he looked at the papir he held in hand, the royal emblem drawn carefully on the yellow material. 

_ “My dear lords and ladies, _

_ As I believe you remember, it is about to be my 35th birthday…” _

“But father! Tubbo and I had plans for the week! We wanted to go find a treasure map!” The youngest complained. “We wanted to find a trident!” Philip just chuckled at his son’s crazy ideas. A trident, as if those existed any longer.

“You’ll have time for that later, after the celebrations. Besides, we could bring Tubbo with us, you could use some company in the castle anyway. _Plus,_ _ it will be easier to keep an eye on you that way”  _ Philip said, although he didn't really add that last part, that was more of an afterthought to himself that he did not need his son to hear. 

“Oh”

“How does that sound to you now?” Philip patiently asked the blonde. 

“Much more acceptable” Tommy murmured, chin high and eyes clearly lit with excitement. The youngest cleared his throat. “May I please be excused? I have duties to attend” Philip rolled his eyes, knowing fully well how his son had absolutely no duties to attend, and that he probably just wanted to dash away to tell the news to his best friend, probably to start planning some form of shenanigans for when they reached the royal castle. 

“Yes Tommy, you’re excused” Tommy grinned widely, made a small reverence to his father -which was very uncharacteristic of him, Philip noted-, and dashed away to wherever Tobias was. Philip sometimes wished he had the form of friendship those two had with each other with someone.

“Father if I may” Technon respectfully bowed once his brother had exited the room. “I would like to speak to you”

“Of course you may son, what’s wrong?” Philip asked, unable to mask his concern. It was in very rare occasions that his middle son asked for anything, and when he did, it was usually something incredibly important. 

“I would like to refrain from attending the festivities organised to celebrate the current king’s 35th birthday” 

“And why is that?” Philip asked.

Technon shifted his weight where he stood, clearly uncomfortable and- embarrassed…?

“Well, you see father, I am not the best with court interactions, as I am much more a better knight than a councilman- I believe William fits more that role than I could ever possibly,” he said, gesturing towards his older brother who stood at his left. “which is why I am asking to be excused from the celebration. Moreover, our castle cannot be left unprotected or unsupervised for an entire week, and I offer to remain here to protect it.”

“Hm, you know, that is a pity.” Philip said, a smirk slowly forming in his face.

“What is a pity father?.” William asked, unable to fight his curiosity.

“Well, I have heard there is to be a tournament of knights, and the prize for the victorious is that which your brother has been searching for a long time.” he answered to his oldest son. 

“Wait- is it- is it really...?” Technon asked, his eyes blown wide. 

“Indeed, the price of the tournament is that which you have been searching for so long- a sacred totem of the undying”

The room fell silent, Technon’s eyes shining and his back straightened, heavily breathing for his excitment. He smirked. 

“Well, upon hearing this very  _ unexpected _ news, I will have to ask you, father, to be allowed to come to the celebrations along thee, and to be permitted to participate in the tournament.” Technon respectfully bowed.

“Of course you are allowed to, my son, I would not have it any other way” 

“Thank you father” he bowed once again. “May I please be excused, for I would like to go prepare my belongings for the trip.”

“You may be excused” 

Technon did not need to hear it twice, for he was already turned and pacing towards his bedroom.

Philip was proud of himself, he’d managed to convince both his most stubborn sons to do what they were ordered; maybe he was catching the hang of being a father after all this time.

“Father, may I please be excused from attending the celebration?” 

He had been so lost in thought that he had forgotten that he still had one last problem to deal with. Well not really a problem, just another son. Even if some may argue that children _were_ , in fact, quite the problem. 

“And why would that be William? You never ask to be excused from social gatherings.” Philip could not hide his worry. This had never happened to him before, usually it was himself and William who convinced the other two to assist any reunion that was scheduled. 

“I know this is uncommon of me to ask, but I do not feel well enough to be surrounded by so many novelty for such an extended period of time. I, as of late, have been feeling rather unwell- tired and lacking energy, and I would like to recuperate said energy to be able to do you service, father.”

“I see." Philip paused, to catch his thoughts "Listen Will, I know you’re tired, hell, so am I, but that is why I  _ need _ you. Neither of your brothers ever care of politics, and gods know you do. I need you to help me with this Will, at least for the first few days. You can be excused afterwards, everyone will be far too drunk by then to care about any negotiations. As the heir to the lordship, I  _ really _ need you to be there, both for me, and your brothers, do you understand?”

Philip rarely ever asked anything of William, for he mostly dealt with tight situations on his own, so William supposed that if his father was asking this of him, it was for an important reason. 

“Well enough father, I shall come with you” He politely bowed. 

Philip could not help but fondly smile. “Thank you very much son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know about you, but this is exactly how my siblings and I react when we are forced to go literally anywhere.


	12. To Be In The Knight’s Guard.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream meets with Sir. Karlarn so as to learn what his life will be in the Knight's Guard.

Dream was up and on his feet in the blink of an eye. 

He was beyond thrilled.

He was going to become a member of the Knight’s Guard. Already! Can you imagine that? Well, Dream knew he was pretty amazing at literally anything, but lords above had he climbed up the ranks fast. 

He quickly made his way towards the training arena, where he had spoken to Sir Karlarn the previous day, since they had agreed that would be their meeting point.

Dream arrived fairly early, he was quite used to waking up early -for he had to many times work before the sun rose, or keep awake during the night so as to scare beasts from eating their crops-, henceforth why it was quite easy to get there on time, even if for once he basically had nothing to do. Just wait for Sir Karlarn’s arrival.

So, since he was to await his apparently ‘tutour’ -according to Sir Nick’s words-, he decided to enjoy the relative quiet that the morning brought. 

Although Dream enjoyed nighttime much better, he found the morning to be quite charming. 

The skies seemed to be much clearer in the morning, at least in his eyes, and he loved to hear the birds’ first chirps.

He found the morning to be oddly peaceful, yet not quite as relaxing as nighttime was. 

“Hey! Dream!”

He turned around upon hearing his  nickname name, to find himself looking at a pretty disheveled, currently running, short and kinda-red-haired knight. 

He smiled a bit under the mask he wore.

He had asked his sister if she could make a mask for him, something that allowed him to see everything before him yet that it didn’t show any part of his face to the outside world. Drizzy had promised she’d do it, and Dream had to admit, she had delivered, and it was pretty good. 

Although it didn’t hide his hair -a pity, were it to cover his hair he would never have to brush it and so he’d be able to save some time-, it did cover all of his face, even his eyes.

Dream did not know how Drizzy had managed to stumble upon tinted glass, but she had done so, and he could not help but admit it was the only perfect material for this. He could see well -even if the world seemed to be bathed in a curtain of darkness-, yet nobody could see his eyes.

It did, however, make quite the bizarre look. When he’d first seen the mask -made of birch wood and with two circular globes of tinted glass at the height of his eyes-, he’d thought that if he were to wear that all others would see him as some sort of demon. Some sort of  _ frog _ demon. The mask  _ did _ look quite scary. But he also thought that could be something good, for it would probably keep many strangers away. He wasn’t so sure about gossipers though.

He was surprised when he woke up the following morning and saw that someone had drawn a very not lineal smile on the mask his sister had made. He didn’t take much time investigating to discover that one of his younger brothers had grabbed an ink sac and drawn that shaky smile on the mask because ‘it doesn’t look as menacing that way’.

He certainly was right, it didn’t look much too menacing now. It looked like a drawing a toddler would make to give to his parents. Dream didn’t get mad. He had smiled and thanked his brother, and told him that he would now be able to make many friends.

Well, maybe he had lied to his brother, but who cares, right?

“Good morning Sir Karlarn.” Dream politely greeted with a slight bow as Karlarn caught his breath after the sprint he’d seemingly just made.

“Jeez, you really are quite the formal lad. Nick told me about it, but I was hoping he was exaggerating” Karlarn chuckled. “ _ Please _ don’t call me ‘Sir Karlarn’ when we are alone, it just makes me feel  _ old _ and too much of a noble. You can call me Karl”

“I shall try to then,  _ Karl _ ” Dream answered. It felt rather strange not to use the appropriate term. Whenever he was to address a member of nobility -when he posed as what he was, a  _ peasant _ -, he was asked to refer to them with the appropriate terminology; a terminology of respect. 

“Okay, good!” Karlar- Karl, beamed “Then let’s head onto the castle shall we?” he said, starting to pace uphill towards where the castle sat. 

The castle was quite the stunning build. Dream didn’t really know when it was first built, but he did know of the legends of its origins. 

There were no other castles made of quartz, marble and red bricks from hell in the entire kingdom. Dream was pretty certain there probably wasn’t a castle quite like this one in the entire world. Made of materials from the nether- materials from hell.

Of course it is also known that this castle was  _ not _ constructed by humans. It was built by  _ elves _ and  _ faeries _ , and  _ shapeshifters _ and  _ dwarves. _ It is even said that the crystal roof of the castle was made by  _ dragons. _

Once upon a time, it is said, this castle was the very center of magic energy of the world, and all magic creatures reunited here to live in peace, and to be surrounded by the spiritual energy that the land has.

That, obviously, was much before the arrival of the human kin, and the extinction of the dragons. Now, there barely were any magic kingdoms, as far as Dream knew, most of them living on the other side of the planet, kicked out of their land by humans.

And now, the castle belonged to them.

“So, now that you are a member of the Knight’s Guard, you’ll have to leave within the castle walls.” Karlarn-  _ Damn you Dream, can’t you just call him as the Knight pleases?-  _ Karl told the other as they walked up the cobblestone road. 

“Um, I’m sorry, but couldn’t it be possible for me to, well, not live inside the castle walls? My father sadly passed away some years ago, and I am now the man of the house. I must be there for my siblings, they need someone to raise them” Dream asked, hopeful tone in his voice.

“I don’t- Nobody has asked that before! I do not know the protocol for this!” Karl - _ yes, good job Dream!- _ groaned. “I suppose I could manage to convince my superior if you live fairly close…”

“Oh, I live around twenty minutes away from the city walls” 

“Twenty minutes from the city walls? That is quite far…”

“Well- I mean- it’s twenty minutes from the city walls by foot, I believe that at horseback it should be much shorter” Dream tried. He could not imagine himself living inside the castle walls and sharing his living space with knights he did not know. How could he keep his identity hidden then? It was too much of a risk. Moreover, how could he help out with the harvest if he was stuck inside the castle walls?

“That is still quite far away Dream, I don’t know... They like to have all members of the Knight's Guard as close to the castle as possible in case there is an emergency; not that there has been a single emergency in more than two decades, but they just  _ love _ to have the royal family overprotected. I guess I can’t blame them for that though…” Karl blabbered “Look, I do not think I can manage to convince my superiors to allow you not to live within the castle walls,” he said after pondering, “but I do believe I should manage to convince them to allow you to share chambers with me.”

Dream glanced at Karl, eyebrow raised, even if the shorter couldn’t see it. The other just laughed lightly, as if he knew what Dream looked like under the mask.

“Look, it’s okay! As a matter of fact, it will probably be much better for you. If not you’d be sharing your chambers with twelve other knights in training! This way you only have to share with two!” 

Dream perked at that. “Two? I thought it would only be you and I.” 

“Oh no, I share the room with Nick” Karl smiled at the other. “I doubt he will mind, he seemed to be quite fond of you actually”

“So, I would have to live inside the castle walls, and share chambers with Sir Nick and yourself?” Dream asked, trying to tidy up his thoughts.

“Yes exactly! We can have so much fun together!” Karl exclaimed excitedly “And trust me, it will be  _ much  _ better than sharing chambers with the very sweaty trainees, this way you will only have to deal with Nick’s very stinky farts!”

Dream laughed at that.  _ I guess it will be better to only share with two rather than with twelve. Plus, they both seem to be nice guys. _

“Oh, we have arrived!” 

Dream looked up, he hadn’t realised they had arrived at the castle’s walls already, but they evidently had. 

In front of him stood a beautiful monstrosity of quartz and red nether brick.

Dream gulped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn it had ben forever since I've last uploaded


	13. To Be Preparing The Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegetables don't deal themselves on their own you know? That's what merchants are for, moreover, with the upcoming festivities, there's even more of a rush.

“Anthony! Anthony! Wake up once and for all!” 

Anthony groaned. He hadn’t even overslept that much. Well he didn’t  _ know _ that but he was pretty sure of it. He usually woke up at the smallest sound, which may or may not be caused by his dormant shapeshifter genes he does not know he has. 

But that is probably just a tale for another day.

“I’m awake mom! Give me a second!” He yelled from his pillow.

He usually was a morning person, but it was hard to have energy in the morning when you had been working non stop for a week already.

Once his parents had been notified of the royal event to soon come, they had  _ not _ stopped- which meant that he had not stopped either. 

Day after day they would wake up earlier than the previous day and work until later. He understood that there was work to be done, goods to be transported to the castle and food to be recollected from the farmers, but they weren’t the only ones who brought goods to the castle; it would be ridiculous if it were like so.

Even if his mother did not agree with him.

“Anthony, you  _ know _ we are heavily trusted by the castle’s staff ever since your grandfather started to commerce with them.” she’d say.

He’d sometimes wish his grandfather would not have started to commerce with the castle, for now his mother wanted to keep that ‘assured quality’ mark she claims they have, which meant that he had to personally revise every single good they were to bring to the castle to assure the maximum possible quality.

“Not like nobles really deserve that maximum quality, since they do absolutely nothing all day” Anthony would say. His mother would immediately shut him down at that, claiming that the nobles were great leaders and that they should thank them for their incredible mercy and empathy. 

Anthony’s mother was full of shit, so he thought. 

>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>

He’d been checking vegetables for two hours now and needless to say, he was bloody  _ tired _ of cabbages, tomatoes, lettuce and carrots. 

“Oh hey Ant!” He raised his head up upon hearing his nickname, smiling immediately when seeing the raven haired knight.

“Nick! What in the world are you doing here?” he asked as he clasped hands with the other. 

“You know, just wanted to check up on you and all.” Nick shrugged.

“Yeah, yeah,  _ sure _ that’s it, tell me what you want” Ant asked, knowing the knight well enough. It was much too early for Nick to be in this zone of the castle, he probably just wanted something.

He didn’t really know when he’d become friends with the knight, but they had somehow just got along well after weeks upon weeks of the knight coming to buy fruit from his stand at the market. Although he did guess they started to become more than acquaintances when a thief tried to steal gold from him and Nick was there to stop him. He had thanked him with a sac of apples, and ever since then, they got along well.

“ _ Fine! _ Look, the  _ prince _ is craving strawberries, do you have any by chance? I went to ask at the kitchen but they don’t have any”

Anthony scratched his head as he looked at the many boxes of food he had in the carriage. It was September after all, and not strawberry season. He didn’t recall seeing any boxes of strawberries, but it may be possible they had a few.

“I dunno man I need to check, but I doubt we have them, it’s not strawberry season” 

“Aw man! That sucks!” Nick groaned.

“But anyway, why would the  _ prince _ send his knight escort to fetch him strawberries? It’s not like that’s his maid’s job or anything” Ant said, lifting an accusing eyebrow at his friend.

“Oh  _ fine _ you caught me. Look I just wanted some strawberries okay! Do you really not have any?” the knight pleaded.

“Man, it’s  _ September _ , strawberries come around April” Ant answered “I may have somein the next few days, my dad has gone south to grab some rarer foods, maybe he’ll bring some then.”

“If there are any, can you save me a few?  _ Pleaseee?”  _

“Lords,  _ fine.  _ But you owe me. The nobles seem to  _ love _ strawberries you’re always asking for them you greedy bastards” Ant muttered.

“I mean they  _ are _ really tasty. And red.”

“Not like the prince would know that” 

Nick laughed “Indeed”

“Oh, and by the way, could you give me a hand? I still have many boxes to unload from the carriage to the kitchens, and there seemingly is nobody to help” Anthony said, pointing back at the carriage which still was very much full of goods.

“Well, now that you mention it,  _ you know _ I think I’m late to training and my father wanted me there for- yeah for the new trainees, and yeaaahh…” Nick smirked slightly at the other “I’ve got to go sorry!”

Ant just laughed as the other ran away “You are a bastard!”


	14. To Be A Magician’s Apprentice.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is interesting to be the court's magician, and even more to be his apprentice.

Samuel was fairly young. He was a year younger than the crown prince, and he was much too young to be as trusted as he was.

You see, Samuel -Sam for short-, was a clergy apprentice, and was heavily trusted by the crown. 

Why, you may ask?

Well, crown prince George is an Omega. 

It wasn’t a very known fact, very few people had ever been trusted with that information, it was not information that the King was interested in spreading. 

But it was  _ because _ prince George is an  _ Omega _ that Samuel knew that he  _ posed _ as a Beta. Because well, that is what the elder lords believed was best.

And it is because George  _ poses _ as a Beta that the prince has to take hormonal suppressants. 

Hormonal repressant which Samuel makes. 

Basically meaning that Samuel is trusted with the crown prince’s  _ life. _ Which, if you don’t know, it's quite a bit of pressure for someone who is yet to be pronounced an actual clergy and is still considered to be just an apprentice. 

Sam is trusted with the crown prince’s life. He could very easily poison and murder the crown prince, he definetly had the resources to do so; the entire laboratory of the crown was at his disposal, meaning all type of magical resources were at the reach of his hand. 

He could  _ ask _ for any magical ingredient that exists in the entire world, and it would be delivered to him, no questions asked.

He had an immense amount of power at the reach of his hand,  _ an immense amount of trust. _

It was ridiculous, Sam thought at times. He was merely an apprentice yet he was arguably in one of the most powerful positions in the entire kingdom. 

But, even with all the power he had, he did not care for it. He did not really want it, honestly.

He had become an apprentice of the clergy when he was 8. His parents, of noble blood, decided that their seventh son could not be maintained by their title, and so, as it was expected, he was revoked from any right to the title or riches, and was sent to the castle, calling in a favour that the king apparently owed his parents. What favour the King had asked of his parents many years ago, Sam did not know. 

And so, because the king did not please to raise him, he was sent to a place where the king would not ever see him or disturb his ‘peace’. He was sent to the basement, or in other words, the laboratory of the clergy. 

The cleric was a nice man, Samuel supposed. He had shown him hospitality and taught him all that he possibly knew. 

Samuel was well fed, always had clothes, and any book in the royal library at his disposal. Plus he was allowed to all festivities. 

He supposed that he could have had it worse. He could have been sent to knight’s school, or become a member of the church of prime. 

He could neither see himself fighting in the front lines nor praising the lords of prime.

Moreover, magic was fun.

He enjoyed it greatly, he found it fascinating. 

Even if he was not of magical blood, having no magic power by birth did not mean that he could not have magic power by experience. 

After all, humans had learned how to use objects which contained magical energy and harnessed them to please their wishes. 

The art of clergy was invented. And Samuel was still learning to master it after all this many months he had spent in the basement of the hellish castle. 

Although as years passed, Samuel found himself wishing for more knowledge and to master the art of clergy even further. 

So he started to test and try, and invented potions. He invented leaping potions, and potions of weakness.

And although he loved the art of clergy, he was also  _ incredibly _ drawn to technology. 

They were but mere rumours at first, tales that spoke of red bright dust, he had not slept until he had found proof of the substance’s existence. It was an old text, and yet he had read its yellow pages and become mesmerized with the tales that it told. He’d become mesmerized. 

He’d asked the king for a special permit that allowed him to go to other kingdoms in order to learn how to master that technology, permit which the king accepted for some apparent reason, but Sam was not to complain for it. 

And so he learned of automation, he learned of pistons and energy, of the red glowing dust that had  _ so _ much power.  _ So much potential. _

But despite all that that he had learned upon his numerous years as an apprentice, he had never, not ever seen such raw power before him. 

He should have guessed it earlier that those green armless monsters held this type of power. He had seen them be slain before by fearless knights, but never before had the corpses of the suicidal monsters been investigated closer, for all masters of knowledge were much too afraid to get a closer look of the destructive creatures.

And needless to say, Samuel was absolutely  _ thrilled _ that he had investigated the monster’s corpse further than any other had before. He was maddened by the discovery he had been crazy enough to make. 

  
Because the grey dust he’d been able to extract had…  _ Explosive _ power.


	15. To Be Guarding The Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He swore that if a pigeon was pooping on him he was fucking quitting. He's DONE.

Guard duty was  _ boring _ , Dream decided.

Why was he supposed to guard the upper walls under the blazing Sun again? Oh yeah, Dream knew, for no bloody reason. 

Come on he was guarding the side of the walls that lead nowhere! There literally was just a cliff on the other side of the walls. A  _ cliff _ for the lord’s sake!  _ Nobody _ would come and attack from down there, that Dream knew for certain- it would be strategic suicide. 

He wanted to  _ improve _ his knight skills, so that he could become a member of the  _ Prince’s Guard _ , so that he could win the crown prince’s trust and so become a member of the  _ King’s Guard _ . Which was quite the simple plan, really, but it was terribly difficult when he was  _ forced _ to guard a fucking  _ quartz _ wall that  _ nobody _ was going to attack  _ ever  _ unless they wanted to kill themselves. 

And even if there was some sort of stealing outside the castle walls -which would be on the other side of the castle, quite the few hundred meters away may he add-, he was  _ not  _ permitted to help, because he  _ had _ to guard the castle walls.  _ The castle walls that lead absolutely nowhere. _

He felt absolutely fucking useless.

What was the use of becoming a knight if he could not even help those that were in need? What was the point of being a knight if all he had to do was stand guard only for if a pigeon was to come and poop on the white walls of Manburg. 

Truly a honorable charge to be a knight.

_ Only 10 minutes left _ Dream reminded himself as he looked at the clock tower,  _ only 10 minutes and I can get out of here, and go and get some rest. _

Ten minutes had never felt as long as they felt at the current moment. 

When did ten minutes become etern again? Dream didn’t recall when time decided to be like that. 

Funnily enough, he was thankful for his mask. The tinted glass allowed him to rest his eyes slightly from the blazing sun, in a way allowing him to rest. Even if it difficulted his breathing, he’d much rather rest his eyes than have his lungs full of air he didn’t need anyway, because he wasn’t about to sprint away anytime soon, because he had to guard the bloody quartz wall. For no particular fucking reason.

And so he stood straight, back facing the castle yard, watching upon the nothingness that he had to watch over, like the absolute fool he apparently was. 

Lots of fun, lots of fun indeed.

“Yo Dream!” 

Immediately, he spun around to find whomever had just yelled his name. It took him a while to find the person that had just called him, spinning around much like a spinning top would. 

Eventually he managed to spot the person; standing inside the castle gardens, was a very jumpy Sir. Karlarn, screaming at him from the floor.

“Oh hey! What’s wrong?” Dream asked his (they were, right?) seemingly very excited friend.

“You are off your shift! Come down here I’ve got to give you some news!” At that, Dream perked up. A chance to get off the walls and stop being extremely bored? 

Needless to say, he took the chance, and immediately rushed to the closest white tower to get to the gardens to talk to his friend. 

His feet were on the ground in the blink of an eye. 

“So, what’s up?” Dream asked the shorter, trying to flick his curly hair off his fa- well, his mask rather.

“Walk with me?” Karl asked the other.

“Sure.”

And so Dream took Karl’s left, and silently walked through the castle’s gardens, waiting for his superior to speak up, not daring to do so himself. 

“So, how has wall duty been treating you? Are you liking it much?” 

“Yeah, it’s… Um… Interesting” Dream mumbled, to which the shorter answered with a scoff.

“Oh  _ please _ wall duty  _ sucks, _ you can’t possibly like it unless you are some sort of psychopath who enjoys staring into nothing”

Dream rolled his eyes “Okay,  _ fine _ . Wall duty is pointless! It sucks! It’s  _ much _ too hot and  _ much  _ too bright and there’s nothing to do!” he whined.

“That’s more like it,” Karl chuckled “nobody ever likes wall duty, it’s only for the newbies and old people who can’t run.”

“It’s useless” Dream muttered, frustrated at the fact that he was deployed to do the task for the amateurs and retired. He had talents, he had skill! He should not be left to rot on the castle walls like that.

“Well tell that to the king, he’s the one that thinks that guard duty is  _ oh  _ so necessary!” Karlarn mocked with a laugh. 

“Yeah well, I should tell the king to go guard the walls himself if it is ‘oh so important’ to him” Dream complained.

“Salty much?” 

“Oh shut up shortie”

At that Karl turned to look at his friend. “I’m average height you giant!” And he basically jumped the masked man, deploying friendly hits.

And so they started to bicker with each other. Pushing the other around and slightly insulting the other.

“Blondie”

“Curly boy”

“Giant”

“Garden gnome”

“Oh you take that back!”

“No!” 

“Guys what in king shlatt’s shiny crown are you doing?” They both turned around, seeing Nick standing in front of them. They hurried to scramble off each other upon seeing their roommate standing there, visibly holding back his laughter. 

“Nothing” Both said at the same time.

“You guys cannot be left alone can you?” Nicholas laughed, “But anyway, have you told the giant about the news?”

“What news?” Dream asked confused, not recalling the reason why Karlarn had come to get him off duty earlier, brushing off his annoyance at being called ‘giant’. 

“Oh yeah, I haven’t told him yet”

“Your  _ only _ job was to tell him!” Nick complained.

In response, the nearly red-head just shrugged “Well I didn’t do it. Nobody’s died or anything”

“Remind me not to give you any more tasks ever again” 

“Sure thing” 

“You are so fucking lazy man” Nick groaned.

“Not any more than you, you fucking dog” Karl smirk.

“I fucking hate you”

“Nah, you love me”

“Not meaning to interrupt or anything, what is the news?” Dream asked, his patience growing thin and his curiosity much too big not to do anything about it. 

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot” The raven haired one turned to him “You’ll soon be taken off wall duty”

Dream couldn’t help but do a very not dissimulated fist bump. 

“In like a week”

Dream groaned.

“Because next week there’s going to be a big celebration!”

“A celebration? What for?” Dream crinkled his eyebrows.

“But the king, of course dummy!” Karl beamed. 

Oh fuck. 

“You’ll be a hall guard, Karl will tell you were to go. Well, at  _ least _ he should be doing so. If he doesn’t forget again.” 

“I got distracted! I  _ was _ going to do it!”

“Yeah  _ sure” _

And so the other two started to bicker and draft away towards wherever in the castle they were supposed to head to that moment.

But Dream had forgotten about it. Of  _ course _ Dream had forgotten about it, why wouldn’t he have!

The king’s birthday was in no more than a week’s time, and he did not know if his family had the required object to bring to the king as a present. 

He had gotten a bit of salary from these few weeks as a guard, but he had already spent it all on new clothing for his sisters and tools for the fields. 

  
They had yet to harvest anything for this year, the crops were growing slowly and not richly. He  _ had _ to figure something out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue filled chapter pog...?


	16. To Be Looking For Presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes being a nobleman meant leading battles. Others, it meant shopping for gifts for the King.

Darryl wished he wasn’t a nobleman at times.

By that I do not mean that he wished to work in the corn fields, or to spend afternoons pounding on blazing hot iron, or to get splinters in his fingers whilst he woodworked. 

He definitely liked lord duties better; he rather enjoyed all the thought that went into taking all sort of decisions, and how he was asked for advice and mediation frequently; even if some of the elder lords were not all that fond on him, even  _ they _ knew that they could not refuse aid from his state.

And yet, here he was, absolutely despising the title his parents had worked hard on maintaining honourable for him. 

He understood that the King’s birthday may be considered a big event, specially for those who considered him to be a descendant from the gods and some sort of divinity, but for him, the King’s Birthday was but a bad excuse to get drunk and steal even more from the lower classes. He found it despicable, and he’d promised himself some years ago that he would avoid throwing this type of celebration for his own birthday at all cost. 

And yet, even if he disliked the king, and tried to avoid birthday celebrations himself, the truth was undeniable; they lived in a society where if he even slightly  _ displeased _ the king he could be revoked of his title and land, and be left to live a life of dishonour and poverty. 

Darryl was not intending to do anything to make that happen. 

So he found himself in a silk shop, surrounded by all types of colorful clothing, half of him wondering if King Shlatt would rather shiny robes better than darker robes, the other half of him wondering if he knew King Shlatt’s sizes.

He eventually came to the conclusion that he did not know the answer to either of those questions, although he wondered if he could ask the Crown Prince about his father's size by card and get back the answer in time.

It was probably not possible anyway.

“Why don’t you just grab this? It looks fancy” Darryl turned to where his guard was standing, holding what looked like a very expensive black silk with pearls embroidered by hand. 

It was most definitely an expensive fabric, taking into account how expensive the silk and the dye itself was, plus the hours that must have taken to embroider all those pearls in.

Darryl could not deny that the silk that had caught his guard’s eye was a very fine one even for a noble.

Well, for a female noble perhaps. 

A female widowed noble, to be more precise.

It would be outrageous of him to present himself with such fabric in the castle, taking into account the late Queen’s passing not that many years ago. 

Although he liked the fabric, he was most definitely not bringing it as a present for the King. He was too fond of his head to do that. 

“Not that one. Too feminine”

Zak made a face, looking directly at the dark fabric he was holding between his hands “I think the King would wear it. He’s pretty femenine”

Darryl nearly choked on his saliva. 

“Don’t say that again! At least not in public!” he scolded his friend under his breath, to which the other just answered with a shrug.

“Hey I’m not saying he’d wear it in public. He’d probably use it as a nightgown so he can look sexy for his mistresses” 

Darryl slapped the shorter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today, just wanted a fun filler :D


	17. To Be Expecting Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was truly stressful to live in the castle in time of preparation. Although it did have its perks

Lately, the castle had been a chaotic buzz. It seemed as if carriages came and went every few minutes and every servant seemed to be rushing down the halls.

The castle both felt more alive than ever and an absolute nervous wreck, but that is only what one could expect when most, if not all, of the novelty in the kingdom -in addition to some foreign diplomats as well-, were to be staying inside castle property within the next few days.

It was likely that some of the most eager nobles would show up a couple of days before the actual celebration started without any sort of warning, but that was to be expected, and the adequate preparations had already been taken into consideration.

It all seemed to be prepared, yet many more things were still to be readied or even to be taken into account. 

And despite the undeniable stress that came along with the preparations, George quite liked celebrations.

He had grown up with them, usually having some sort of big feast at least once a month and for the slightest reason. It was part of novelty life, after all, and he was the highest form of it that existed.

He didn’t necessarily enjoy them that much a few years ago, for during his moody teenage years he didn’t really enjoy pretending to be a perfect prince before the elder lords, especially after his second gender was revealed. 

But he also realized that it was only during those events that he got to talk and catch up with some of his friends. 

Darryl, for an instance. 

He had gone to the lordship ceremony, stood on the first row just as the crown prince was supposed to do -according to his sacred duties-, and watched as his father performed the ritual he had probably performed dozens of times.

He stood and watched as one of his best friends took on the title that his parents had owned before him, and watched silently as he swore loyalty to George’s father.

And yet, despite the fact that he had been just there, barely ten meters away from the new lord, he had not been allowed to speak to him, for he was forced to leave shortly after the ceremony ended. 

George missed talking to his friends. 

It definitely felt as if it had been forever since they had last spoken.

When was the last time? For the autumn solstice mayhaps? That had been nearly two months ago, and despite the fact that he had Eretyr and even his maid -Himbom- with him in the castle, it wasn’t the same as being with his friends.

He wished to talk about books once again with William and Darryl, he wished to once again be allowed to have some liberties with his friends. 

And what better than a week long festivity to do that?

Yes, there would be way too many Elder Nobles around, but who cared? By now all of the Elder Lords knew that he was an Omega, and surprisingly enough, it seemed as if they had stopped remembering it. 

They had started to  _ forget. _

And ironically enough, along their loss of memory came the beginning of his freedom. And the beginning of an era during which people would respect him.

Maybe William had been right when he’d told him that it would get better with time. It undoubtedly was improving each passing spring. 

Who knows, maybe if there was some new plague that mysteriously only killed off the Elder Nobles… But that was just a silly, and selfish dream. A  _ very _ selfish dream.

And yet, it was a dream that he hoped would come true. 

George sometimes wondered if he was a terrible person, although he would soon dismiss that thought. 

“Your highness, we would like your assistance with some of the preparations we must make for the celebrations” Himbom petitioned with a slight bow upon entering the Prince’s chamber. 

George had been so lost daydreaming that he had forgotten that the castle was, as a matter of fact, expecting company. 

Some of which George could not wait for, some of which he wished would just disappear with the snap of his fingers. Or maybe disappear by the blade of a bloodthirsty assassin.

“Of course, what do you need me to assist you with?” George asked, half relieved that he was allowed to do something instead of just rotting away in his chambers. 

“The head baker has asked us which flavour of cake we would most rather serve on the 3rd day of festivity, and your father is not available at the moment, so I figured I could come ask you so we can go taste the cakes together…?” Himbom asked, a small smirk on his lips.

I mean, how could one not accept an offer to cake eating? Himbom knew him a bit too well, which was to be expected since he had been his butler/maid for three years.

George smiled “How many flavours has our dear head baker prepared for us today?” 

Himbom, who already knew where this conversation was going, returned the Prince’s smile “I believe she has prepared maybe around fifteen flavours to try out, each and every one of them presented frosted in small cupcakes” 

“Good, we shall then help our dear head baker get rid of such a headache, so that they can arrange the preparations for the upcoming celebration days.”

╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚╝╔╗╚

After tasting a fifteen varieties of cake, George -with Himbomb’s assistance-, decided that 8 different flavours of cake should be served on the third day of festivity.


	18. And So We Shall Gather Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

Eventually, the day came. 

September 10th, King Shlatt’s thirty-fifth birthday. 

Invitations had been sent three weeks -or more- before, in anticipation to the date, the messengers of the court fully aware that most of the invitations would arrive at their destinations two weeks before the celebration.

All the invitations had arrived at their respective castles, even if in fairly short notice, barely allowing some of the novelty who lived in the outskirts of the kingdom to pack up and head to the capital. 

King Shlatt’s argument for his timing was that ‘it is their fault if they did not remember the date of my birth’. Partially, he was right, partially, it was quite a weak -and irrational- argument to make.

But nevertheless, even those from the most remote lands who had been invited hasted to make their way to the bizarrely hellish castle. 

The short notice was a bother to many if not most, yet nobody filed complaints, for they were much too afraid of losing their head.

The King was known for having a tendency of taking heads. ~~And in more than one way~~.

As many of the nobles, lots of the ‘lowers’ were forced to either travel to the capital, or bring presents to the lord of their land, so that they transported the plebeians’ presents to the castle, so that the King may take them. 

Those who lived the closest to the castle had already been bringing presents and offerings for a couple of days, fairly early before the actual celebration started, deciding to fill up the Offerings Room before there were hours of queue leave one’s presents there.

Dream’s Clay’s family were one of those lessers who decided to bring forth their presents earlier than needed, mostly Clay being worried about the possibility of having to guard the present’s room and leave his siblings alone when bringing forth the offering, and to be left at the mercy of the lords. He had much rathered saving the troubles and bringing the present himself -a bunch of cereal from the previous harvest-.

  
And whilst ones were giving presents, others were stressed.

George’s last weeks, ever since the invitations had been sent, had been an absolute crazy rush. 

His father was not one for preparing anything, rather only deciding which beverages to serve, forcing George, as Crown Prince, to take most of the actually important decisions, which he had already gotten used to doing a few years back.

It had some perks of course, he had grown to enjoy organising and he got to taste most of the potential food to be served.

What did not have any perks, however, is travelling in a single carriage with all of your siblings (plus sibling’s friend). 

That would discover the Incrafts after leaving Pogtopia for the capital a few days before the celebration, reaching such an annoying degree that Kristin -cheerful, patient Kristin-, ended up yelling at the boys to get out of the carriage, which Technon for one gladly agreed to do -getting out and mounting on Carl, who had also been brought on the trip for he refused to go anywhere without his trusty steed-, leaving Tubbo and Tommy to annoy the driver whilst William was allowed to stay inside by Philip. 

A trip that was much a quieter trip was Darryl of Muffigand. 

Although it was rather sad that it was that- _empty_ he supposed. This was the first time he would have to go to the King’s Birthday without his parents, and actually owning the title of ‘ _Lord of Muffigand’_ , which he knew would bring him to some complicated conversations with some of the most irritating elders. At least he had Zackariah.

And as lord and ladies made their way -either by sea or horse-, to the bizarre construction made from hell, a very self centered King grinned at his reflection.

“Oh, this is going to be fun” 

  
  
  


<<|| From now on, this will pretty much be an author’s note with commentary on the story so far, it is not crucial to understand the chapters from here on, so I’ll be direct and tell you to skip it if you do not feel like it, but I will be explaining things I have done so far and, well, answer any questions you may have asked in the comments from either this very chapter, or previous chapters were I not to have answered them already. ||>>

  
  
  


Shall we then do a small recap?

It has been a while since this story has started, and we may or may not be approaching the big first meeting between the main characters.

So yeah, it’s a slow burn but we’re getting there, I promise.

Although, so far so good- taking into account this is the very opposite to the tag ‘plot what plot? porn without plot’. 

Does a ‘porn what porn? plot without porn’ tag exist? I honestly feel like if it doesn’t then we should found it or something. 

But the whole point of this chapter is to get all of the concepts mentioned so far cleared up, and hopefully answer any of the questions you guys may have! ~~As well as buying myself some time to figure how to organise the chapters to come haha~~

And as always, suggestions are welcomed, for sometimes one just cannot come up with fresh enough ideas after having worked on something for a certain period of time.

Nevermind that, in short here’s what we have seen of this mildly bizarre medieval universe with our favourite minecraft -and other- youtubers. 

Firstly we are introduced to Clay who is a farmer and quite very, well, _poor_ , who in order to keep his oldest sister from marrying to a douche -and having some wholesome flashbacks about his childhood-, decides to aim to join the King’s Guard in order to pull out his family from poverty. We see as he manages to get into kight’s school -having to hide his identity _|first chapter mentioning how he would become the_ **_Dream_ ** _his family needed? EEh? Ikr_ incredibly _smart and lowkey am I right|_ and becoming, well, ‘Dream’-, and make some friends, rapidly climbing up the knight’s ranks and reaching the moment where we find ourselves in. He is now in the Knight’s Guard and about to be guarding the celebrations. So we _may_ or may not be seeing a very cliché first meeting…? 

We then have our _dear_ Crown Prince. An Omega in an Alpha’s world, forced to take in hormone depressants -made by technological and chemistry genius Samuel, the explosives master- so as to appear as a Beta. Mostly forgotten in his chambers to rot alone, he is left to daydream about having the freedom his younger half brother has. He is friends with the lord of Muffigand and William of Pogtopia, and one of his closest servants, a maid/butler named Himbom, who he heavily trusts. We _may_ see him in (possible 2nd part, who knows) some future chapters, with a certain shapeshifter visit from other kingdoms. 

Next up, our non-swearing muffin. We are able to experience his lordship entitlement, as his parents sadly passed away. He is left an unprotected prey in the claws of the elder nobility, especially since he is the current owner of the second largest land in the kingdom. Luckily, he has with him his best friend and bodyguard, Zakariah, who although may be a polar opposite to him, is always there to cheer up the situation. Although there not being many chapters on him -yet-, we are slowly becoming acquaintanced to his likings and responsibilities, in addition to the very iconic relation he has with his knight. 

Then we have the big great very much comedic relief -although not so much, in a near future- family. The Incrafts (name which comes from the contraction of ‘Innit’ and ‘Minecraft’ -I couldn’t manage to fit ‘Soot’ in as well, sorry), are an undeniably powerful family. Made up of an army of children, two old people and a semi adopted bee loving brunette. It could be conceived as a somewhat unconventional family, were it not for the fact that they all work surprisingly well together -somehow.

In the introductory chapter we first learn of William’s secret salmon-sapshifter lover, how Tobias and Tommy have burned down houses from time to time, Technon’s sense of duty and protective behaviour around his brothers -even if an absolute psycho when on the battlefield or even just holding a butter knife-, and Philip’s tired life and learning to be a parent.

Although not said in the aforementioned chapters, ever since the incident in the woods with the shape-shifter and his brothers, William has yet to see his lover again, and returns every Thursday to the forest clearing, awaiting to see a familiar fish swim up the river stream. 

In the few Incraft chapters we hav, however, we can see how when it comes to serious matters, most of the children are able to keep a straight face, and William’s _(important)_ behaviour change from the introductory chapter, to ‘To be forced to the celebration’. 

We have then added a couple introductory chapters for secondary characters, such as Samuel and Anthony _(Frost,_ for those who haven’t caught on, Anthony is just Antfrost _)._ Those were a bit of a test run, I do not know if you like it, but hey if you did, do say, I’ll probably do them anyway but it would be encouraging if I knew that the readers actually kinda enjoy it. Those couple chapters are supposed to be simply introductory and to explain the relations between these secondary characters and the rather ‘primary’ characters, or however you would rather call them.

Although this type of chapter isn’t necessary to the plotline -you could probably understand the following chapters without reading them-, I find that, in the long run, they are probably going to be slightly more relevant than they are at the current moment. 

Some other thing I wish to comment on is the Alternate Universe I have decided to set this story in. 

It obviously is not terribly accurate to the real middle ages, but were I to be honest, it was not my intention anyway for it to be. Why? The reality is that middle ages were incredibly depressing, plague filled, _incredibly_ sexist, fully controlled by the church and rape filled years. Although I started this story because I had just read a chivalry novel from the XV century (school assignment), that does _not_ mean I will be sticking to that.

One of the main reasons for it, is that I do not have the energy to do so properly. 

I, for one, am partidary of realistic tales, specially when I’m reading stories which are set in a specific historic time, but I am currently at a need for time -I write these chapters during the small homework breaks during my online classes, which I have like twice a week-, and I am well aware on how much research needs to go into a story’s historic universe for it to be accurate. 

But I suppose you really should not have clicked on this story if you wanted a historically accurate tale after reading the tags, I mean, _come on_ it’s an omegaverse. We all know that is not realistic. 

One other aspect from the chapters that I myself have slowly started to love, are the titles. 

Which may sound stupid, of course, but I have always been partidary for titled chapters. I somehow started to add the ‘To Be…’ at the introductory chapters, much by accident, and for some reason just continued with it. Stupidly or whatnot, it gives a somewhat sense of age to the titles, which in my head makes sense, for we are talking of a universe in the medieval ages. And as I’m speaking of chapter titles, I shall take the chance to explain this very one.

So the original title for the introduction was, well, ‘Introduction’, but I decided to change it upon writing this chapter. I could not manage to fit the now classical ‘To be…’ into the title, and I have therefore decided that all chapters focused mainly from my (narrator) pov and not an actual character’s, that these mostly sarcastic chapters are to be started by ‘And so…’ 

Hopefully I do not have to change it much for I like the aesthetic. 

I feel like I do not have many more aspects to mention but one: upload schedule.

It’s complicated to have a steady upload schedule when you literally have multiple exams each week, plus no time at all to just _write Fanfiction_ (something which I thought I would ever be doing, I must note), because I have _many_ things to do and no excuses left. 

So, I’m terribly sorry if you expect a new chapter and it is not there, please understand I am terribly busy and try to do my best t upload as many _quality_ chapters as possible. 

That is all, I believe, wanted to say. Anyway from here on, it's the ‘answering questions’ section, so I’ll be answering any potential questions you may have left on the comment section of this chapter here (sorry for not replying directly haha). 

~~Also please just leave like one question so this isn’t awkward and embarrassing for me because I was/am/i don’t know anymore expecting questions .~~

🐝🤾💛🌃✨🌻🌼🍬🌺🌌 **?** : Yes, of course.

**Adding Ranboo?** : We not only have shape-shifters in the story, but we have canon mobs and nether. Having both the overworld and the nether be canon low-key/high-key means that the End also is. And which mobs inhabitate the End? You know it; goddamn tall and skinny purple-particled  _ Endermen _ . Plus, who says humans and Endermen cannot procreate? For short, let’s just say there will soon enough be a portal opening, and dimensions uniting once again. We may most likely therefore see a lanky half endermen around. 

**Karlnap?** : Not planning on it, sorry mate. Personally cannot see it working in this AU, plus I low-key struggle with romance, and therefore rather concentrate only on one ship at a time. 

**Will the story just end in this one part (because that would be a** **_big_ ** **big fic) or will this become a series?:** At first I was planning on just making one part, because I am personally a partidary of one-part fics, mostly when reading, because I'm too lazy to search the second part up. I  _ have _ , however, been considering adding a second part, mostly because I think this is about to get  _ long _ , and it would probably be more organized like so. At the moment I am just going as the story flows, but if this gets over the fifty chapters I am most  _ definitely _ making this a series of sorts.


	19. To Be Greeting The Newcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guests are arriving and will arrive. The castle is about to be filled with newcomers.

He had been preparing for this for  _ weeks _ now, and yet here he was, sweating at the top of the staircase because he was aware of how many things were yet to be fully prepared and very much conscious of the carriages of the invited that were slowly approaching from the horizon..

So much work done, so much work yet to do. 

He  _ obviously _ did not have it the worst though; his only job was to decide between the samples that his servants had prepared for him, it was not work at all in comparison with what the  _ actual _ servants had to do. 

At the moment, many of the mentioned were running up and down the serving corridors, with bedsheets and pillows in hands, still having to prepare  _ many _ of the rooms that the lords and ladies were supposed to be sleeping in during these celebratory days. 

George had to remind himself of the many guests that were just a few hours -some barely minutes- away from the castle gates who still did not have their chambers prepared. 

It was his job as Crown Prince to make sure all had what they needed and, at the moment, only a few rooms were properly decked for novelty.

George was a wreck of nerves, yet he had to stand there at the castle entrance, waiting for more Lords and Ladies to come so he could greet them and assign them a servant to show them to their rooms and serve them throughout the period of celebration.

He had been doing so that morning for a few hours already, he only had to stand there for around thirty more minutes until he could be excused in order to have lunch with the nobles that had already arrived and his father, during which period Eretyr would have to take over the greeting. 

At least he wasn’t neither alone nor the most nervous. He was standing with the Prince’s Guard behind him -Nick at his right, of course-, and the servants to be assigned to the different noble families were standing down the length of the staircase at his left.

They had had to hire many temporary servants to properly treat their guests. After all, this  _ was _ the King’s 35th birthday; no expenses were saved. 

Some of the nobles -rather lesser ones-, that were invited had shown up a couple days before the official celebration started, and George was glad that he had foreseen that, for their rooms had already been prepared and it was fairly easy to dismiss them to their respective guest chambers. 

George wondered if the castle could both afford and fit all those many wealthy people inside the walls. He did not have much information about the Crown’s economic state though.

Another carriage arrived, entering the castle walls, yet George did not move. 

It wasn’t protocol to do so; the protocol stated that what needed to be done was that some of the lesser guards -or, in other words, knights and trainees who were not members of either the Prince’s nor the King’s Guard-, to look through the carriage and properties to make sure they were not a threat to the crown. It wasn’t until the guards signaled Nick that it was safe for George to go that he could step down the staircase.

And so they did that, and George patiently waited until Sapnap took a step forward and down the stairs, George following suit. The carriage inched forward slightly. 

George should have known who they were upon their arrival, but he had been facing the sun, which had blinded him significantly. 

“George! It's a pleasure to speak to you again my friend!” 

The emblem masterfully painted to the sides of the carriage did not lie. The Incraft family had finally arrived to the capital, and George could not be happier- it had been far too long since he had last seen the tall noble. 

“William!” They clasped hands in a much too informal manner, clearly hinting their friendship to outsiders “I’ve been expecting your arrival! For a second there I was scared you would not come” the Prince chuckled.

“For a second I was as well.  _ Someone _ had to guard our castle since Technon wanted to be part of the tournament and Tommy is just too much of a child for this” William said, as he pointed with his thumb at his brothers who were behind him; Technon having dismounted Carl and giving careful instructions to the stable boy on what, how and when he should feed the horse, and Thomas pointing at the castle and blabbering about it to Tobias, since it was his friend’s first time in the capital.

“You brought Tobias too this time?” George asked, a slight smile on his lips and with an eyebrow quirked. 

“I fear it is the only way we can possibly control Tommy,” William sighed “he is just a force of nature, and Toby manages to tone it down, if only a bit”

“Your brother  _ is _ indeed quite a chaotic mess” George laughed “By the way, where is Philip? Has he decided to stay over at Pogtopia so as to avoid interaction with the elders?”

“Oh no, he has  _ come”  _ Wilbur said looking around the castle yard yet unable to see his father. “But where is he…?”

“He’s in here!” Kristin said from the side of the carriage, trying to help her husband get out of it, something which Philip was seemingly struggling to do.

Once seeing that, William immediately rushed to Kristin’s side to help the old man get out of the carriage. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” The older blonde chuckled “It is only that I haven’t walked in quite a long while and my extremities have cramped!” 

At some point, Technon had also discarded his interaction (more like bullying) of the stable boy and had come over to check on his father's health.

“Need I fetch you a potion of healing? I have brought some. I thought I’d use them after the tournament but I could also ask for m-”

“Technon I’m fine-” Philip grunted as he finally stepped on the ground, which just made the two older brothers rush to his side “See? Already on the ground. Just a bit rusty from all this travelling” He said, a smile on his face. 

George watched fondly from afar. Although it may look as a very dysfunctional, untraditional and unconventional family at first, the truth was that the Incrafts were, from a novelty perspective, one of the most united families he had ever cared to witness in his entire life -if not the most. 

“Should I fetch you your cane? I know you said I need not bring it but Kristin and I decided to grab it anyway for precaution-” Will started to rant, worried at his father’s old bones.

Phil laughed. “Lords you all do know how to take care of an old man don’t you? Fine fetch me the cane, if that will ease your heart” 

As that happened George decided to make a mental note to give the Incrafts some of the rooms in the lower floors of the castle, for apparently the old Lord of Pogtopia could use resting his joints better than he could stairs.

William fetched his father his cane -a sword-cane, which Technon had asked to be made like that so Philip were able to protect himself if he was not around-, the family approached the Crown Prince, Tobias and Thomas apparently nowhere to be found already. 

“As always, it is a pleasure to have the Lord of Pogtopia in the castle walls, it has been far too long since your last stay here” George politely smiled as he shook Philip’s unoccupied -by a cane- hand.

“Oh, you know it is always my pleasure to come over your highness. But if I may, I would like to comment something to you.” The elder said moving away from his family and taking the Crown Prince along him, as if wanting to tell the other a secret. 

“Oh of course! You may tell me  _ anything _ that worries you, I will make any arrangements necessary to fix any of your needs” George’s voice was laced with concern. Usually Philip was a fairly reserved person -not that it meant he couldn’t be trusted, to be honest, George thought of the Lord of Pogtopia as more of a father than he thought of his own-, so it was strange that he was asking anything of him. 

“Oh no, I am sure you have arranged it all to be suitable for us, I am just wishing to ask you if it would be possible to have some of your knights watching over Thomas, and to  _ please _ not treat him too harshly for anything he may do during the week- he is but a child, still learning, you know? I will try to keep him off trouble, but sometimes he just cannot be controlled” Philip sounded tired, he’d probably been thinking about asking this to George ever since the Incrafts had parted from Pogtopia..

George laughed. “Oh but of course! Don’t you worry about it, I will immediately put my knights to it.” 

“You have no idea what weight you have lifted off my shoulders” Philip sighed. 

“Don’t you worry about your kid, I’m sure we will be able to keep him under control” George smiled, even if he was unsure if that promise could be kept. “Feel free to start making way upstairs, I will be joining you shortly, plus you will be happy to know that you have come just in time for lunch, it should start in barely twenty minutes” 

George politely excused himself from the Incraft’s side towards where Nick stood -barely 10 meters away-, so as to give him the cheerful news that would be learning that he’d have to order some of his knights around to follow the blonde child, who had somehow disappeared in the few minutes since the Incrafts had arrived to the castle. 

“Hello,  _ Nickolas”  _ George beamed at his best friend.

The raven haired knight groaned much too loudly “What is it now? What do I have to do?” 

“Wait, how did you know I wanted to ask you something?” 

“Dude, you only ever call me ‘Nickolas’ when you have to ask something weird or send me in some awfully boring knight duty. Just say it.” 

“So you know little Tommy right?”

“Yeah, the Incraft child right?” Sapnap asked the Prince. 

“Yeah, that very one. Well, Philip asked me if I could, you know…  _ maybe send a couple knights to look after him so he doesn’t get into any funny business?”  _

Nick groaned “Nobody wants to do babysitting duty George!”

“Then do it yourself!” 

“Hell no!”


	20. To Be Given A Task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The knights reunite, for a task needs to be given.

Apparently Karl did not know why Sir Nicholas had called them for either. Dream had made sure to ask the shorter for the reason they had been called when he saw the other enter the room, the only information obtained being that Nick had requested his presence as well, no justification given. 

It slightly calmed Dream, knowing that neither of them knew what was exactly happening, even if it also made him uneasy. 

What is it? Was he discovered? Was he being kicked out? Were his dreams shattered already? 

And yet if that were so it would make no sense to prolong the procedure. They’d probably just kick him the fuck out, no need to be secretive about it or keep both Karl and Dream in the dark. 

It did not make sense for that to happen like that, yet he still felt a knot in his throat.

It wasn’t until maybe ten minutes of waiting later that the door to the not-very-well-lit room opened, giving entrance to Nick and- wait, who was that?

Dream straightened his back, if only for the sake of appearance.

He noted how Nick made sure to close the door behind him, and how the other -seemingly a knight, if he were to judge by the other’s attire- stood unbothered and silent by his side.

He did not think he had seen this knight before, not in any guard duty, nor during lunch with the rest of the Guard, which could only really mean two things: He was an outsider, or he was a member of the Prince’s Guard. 

The armour the newcomer was wearing certainly was shiny and fancy, probably more for show than protection, as most of the Prince’s and King’s Guard were, really. 

After all, nobody ever expects an attack on the royal family. Ever. It has only ever been attempted in l’Manburg once, and it failed -quite miserably one may add. 

And despite the fact that the members of both the Prince’s Guard and the King’s Guard were most likely -cross that, they  _ were- _ the most skilled knights in the entire kingdom, they barely had to fight, and in the rare occasions that they did it was mostly just in the sparring ring, to display strength, to cheer up the audience and get some excitement among the lessers. 

Their main occupation was to be a shadow to whomever member of the royal family they swore to protect, mostly never seeing the battlefield, much like the royal family itself did. 

It was a good job, paid well and gave a very respectful title, but Dream wondered if it was really worth giving up one’s life just to protect someone who barely acknowledged your existence. 

Although Dream aimed to become a part of the King’s guard, that did not mean it was  _ really _ what he wanted. He took a second to remind himself how he had taken this path to serve his  _ family,  _ not himself. He was not the reason he was here.

That is why he at times wondered how Nick -energetic, annoying, absolutely stinky Nick-, could stand being the shadow and right man to a Prince. Nicholas’ charming attitude was not one to be restricted by formalities and guarding of the crown. Dream could just simply not imagine him as a willing guard.

But he apparently was, and Dream had to respect that.

They had never spoken of Nick’s relation with the Prince, and he had barely seen them walking together around the castle -and by barely I mean that he had seen them 3 times from the castle’s walls, for barely 2 seconds each time. 

Nick never spoke of the Crown Prince. Dream never asked.

He returned his attention to the stranger. He was a rather handsome man, taking into account broad shoulders and light blonde hair -apart from the sky-clear baby blue eyes. He was tall, even if three inches shorter than Dream himself, and something about his eyes made Dream know that the other was sharp-minded.

Something about that gaze made him not want to get on the stranger’s bad side. 

“Okay, good, we are all here” Nick sighed, and visibly relaxed, his shoulders slumping. “I got some orders and I need someone who I can trust to do it, that’s why I reunited you three here”

Nicholas knew the stranger, Dream assumed, and he apparently trusted him. He wondered if Nick trusted the other more than he did Dream, which could very well be true, taking into consideration the short period of time during which Dream and Nick had actually known each other. Moreover, the stranger was more likely than not a member of the Prince’s Guard, meaning that they guarded the Crown Prince together -which meant that they spent many hours a day by each other's side, even if not speaking aloud. 

Dream supposed he should feel honoured for being so trusted by the captain of the Prince’s Guard after only such a short time of knowing each other. 

“So you guys already know each other,” Nicholas said, moving his arms frantically between Karl and the stranger. “but you two don’t;” he continued, gesturing between the member of the Prince’s Guard and Dream “so, quick introductions, this is Punitian -Punz for short- member of the Prince’s guard, and this is Dream, the protégé I told you about.”

Both blondes shared a look, even if the Knight -Punitian-, could not see Dream’s eyes directly. Dream thanked the uncomfortable birch mask once again.

“So, now that we are all introduced, I need you to do something, direct orders from the prince and  _ not _ my idea” Nicholas was pacing the small room, and then came to a halt once he finished the sentence. “You know of the state of Pogtopia, right?- What am I saying of course you know of it- look there is this  _ kid,  _ the fucking demon spawn, and the Lord of Pogtopia asked it from George and then-”

“Dude, just cut to the chase, what do we have to do?” Karl asked.

“You guys won’t like this…” Nick said, looking around the room much like a scared cat. “But I will need you to babysit.”

The ‘What’ that was screamed at the poor raven haired captain was heard from the other side of the halls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where am I going with this? Only time will tell.
> 
> Do we like Punitian's introductions or nah?


End file.
